SINGAPORE – Local football fans could get to see the next Lionel Messi or Ronaldinho live in action, with Singapore and Indonesia jointly submitting their interest to Fifa to co-host the Under-20 World Cup in 2025 and Under-17 World Cup between 2025 and 2029.
The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced in a press statement on Dec 4 that it has signed a letter of intent to discuss and consider jointly hosting future editions of either age group tournament with Persatuan Sepak Bola Seluruh Indonesia (PSSI).
The statement said: “This letter of intent has been submitted to Fifa. This letter of intent is exploratory at this stage...
“The bid, if any, will need to be further developed with Fifa, PSSI, and for consensus to be sought with agencies in Singapore.”
Indonesian President Joko Widodo told reporters in Jakarta that the countries are targeting the 2025 Under-20 tournament, adding that “I believe Singapore and Indonesia can be good hosts”.
Host countries will automatically qualify for the tournaments, which means that should a Singapore and Indonesia bid be accepted by the world football body, Singapore will compete in a Fifa youth tournament for the first time.
Singapore’s football teams last featured in a high-profile tournament at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games here in 2010, when the Under-15 side captured the hearts and imagination of fans en-route to a bronze medal.
The Fifa U-17 World Cup – which will become an annual tournament from 2025 – and Fifa U-20 World Cup, which is run biennially, aim to give youth players the opportunity to play in an international tournament.
The likes of Brazilian icon Ronaldinho, Manchester City and England attacker Phil Foden and Napoli’s Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen have all previously lifted the U-17 World Cup.
Diego Maradona, Messi and Paul Pogba have won Player of the Tournament at the U-20 World Cup.
Singapore U-15 national development centre player Nathan Mao, 15, said: “It will be a fantastic oppotunity to see where we stand against the top teams and players in the world.
“It would be a childhood dream come true to play in the youth World Cups.”
The latest talks between Singapore and Indonesia come on the back of a previous announcement by PSSI president Erick Thohir in October that Indonesia was keen to co-host the 2034 World Cup with Australia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Eventually, a bid did not materialise and Saudi Arabia was the only country to put forward a bid.
The latest edition of the U-17 World Cup was held in the Indonesian cities of Bandung, Jakarata, Surabaya and Surakarta from Nov 10 to Dec 2, with Germany crowned champions.
Indonesia was awarded hosting rights for the 2023 U-20 World Cup, but it was removed as hosts in March after protests in the country against Israel’s participation in the tournament. The event was then moved to Argentina.
In a recent episode of The Straits Times’ podcast series Hard Tackle, former Sport Singapore chief executive officer Lim Teck Yin, who watched the U-17 World Cup in Jakarta, said that Singapore has the abilities to host a future edition of the Cup.
He added: “The capacity levels that are required for that, in a matter of the next decade, Singapore will have those.
“We will have the National Stadium, we’ve got NS Square. We’ve got the new Toa Payoh Stadium and we can easily provide capability for another stadium if we wanted to.
“I was at an Under-17 Cup match between France and South Korea. The official attendance rate for that was at about the 8,000 mark. So that’s well within our capability.”
The 2023 editions of the U-20 and U-17 World Cup were hosted in four stadiums each in Argentina and Indonesia respectively.
International and regional matches have been held at Singapore’s 55,000-seater National Stadium, the 6,000-seater Jalan Besar Stadium, and the Bishan Stadium, which can hold approximately 6,000.
The Toa Payoh Stadium and NS Square are expected to be completed in 2030 and 2027 respectively.
The Punggol Regional Sports Centre, which will have a 5,000-seater football stadium, is expected to be ready at the end of 2024.
