Sport

In another blow to an already bad couple of years in Singapore football, a referee, who was officiating an official National Football League Match in that slum called Yishun, was assaulted by a player during the match itself.

The match in question was the NFL Division One game between Gymkhana FC and Katong FC, which took place on 21 October at the Yishun Stadium. According to eyewitnesses, the match still had 10 minutes to go when the referee, who was named as Lim Li Seng, was assaulted by a player from Gymkhana. The referee was understood to have hurt his neck. He was conveyed to the Khoo Teck Phuat Hospital as a result of the assault. 

Police have confirmed that they are currently investigating the case as one of voluntarily causing hurt.

Former player and coach on the S League, Darren Staewart, passed away on Thursday at age 52. Stewart, who has been living in Singapore since 199 when he signed for Balestier Central from Johor FA, is survived by his son and daughter.

Stewart signed in 1999 for Balestier Central, and his love affair with the S league started then. The defender went on to play for Balestier until he hanged up his boots in 2001, where he embarked on a coaching career. He led three local clubs, Balestier Khalsa, Gombak United and Woodlands Wellington as a head coach.

His former players paid their tribute to him, indicating that he was a great mentor and a fantastic coach. His passing at a relatively young age caught many int he local football fraternity by surprise. He will be greatly missed

What a sad state of affairs that the Singapore football fraternity finds itself in. First, none of the local teams have managed to win any kind of local silverware in the past two years. Yes, all out local competitions have been won by a foreign invited team. To make things worse, the Japanese team Albirex Niigata even went the whole year unbeaten. 

That is how lousy Singapore football is. And the national team? Under Sundram, they did not win any official match at all in 2017. All the so called stars of the Singapore teams now ply their footballing skills overseas, in the better leagues of Malaysia and Thailand. This November, the Singapore Lions are scheduled to play Indonesia and Timor Leste at the National Stadium for the AFF Cup group stage.

But our local football have gotten to such a bad state, that national football icon and current national coach Fandi Ahmad have to make a video appealing for fans to come down and watch! Where once fans queued for hours just for tickets to watch Singapore play, now you could probably drop in halfway through a match and still gain enough tickets for a whole army battalion! What a sad state for Singapore football.

Ex-Singapore national team player and football legend from the 70s and 80s, Arshad Khamis, passed away suddenly in his home in Canada on Friday morning Singapore time.

Arshad was a key member of the Singapore team and in his heydays in the late 70s and early 80s, he was in the Singapore team that won the Malaysia Cup in 1977 and 1980. He also represented the Singapore Malays and Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association. Arshad emigrated to Canada in 1992 aged 42.

According to his wife, she was preparing lunch at their home in Canada on Thursday, while Arshad was resting on the couch. However, he did not respond when called, and paramedics were called. They failed to find a pulse, and he was suspected of having a heart attack. The late Arshad was scheduled to return to Singapore on Sunday to inform family and friends of his daughter's impending wedding in December.

FAS has said that Singapore's friendly match with Mongolia at Bishan Stadium on Friday will be marked with a one minute's silence before kick off as a remembrance to Arshad Khamis.

In a surprise news announced by the Laos FOotball Federation, V Sundramoorthy, the former Singapore national team coach, have been appointed as Laos coach with immediate effect on a three year contract. He will replace Mike Wong, another Singaporean coach who have now taken up the position of Laos Football Technical Director, although he is widely expected to leave the Federation for a post with FIFA as a technical consultant for the East Asia region.

Sundram was the Singapore coach until last year, when he left his post having not won an international game for the entirety of 2017. However, his tenure with Laos will begin immediately with the AFF Suzuki Cup this November. Laos are grouped with Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. 

If Sundram were to face Singapore and Fandi Ahmad in the tournament, both Laos and the Lions need to reach at least the semi final stage. Which seems highly unlikely, as both teams are not expected to go far in the tournament.

For the second year in the row, Singapore football shows what a farce it is by having two foreign teams fighting it out in the final of the Singapore Cup. Albirex Niigata and Brunei DPMM, the two invited teams that have been participating in the Singapore Premier League beat their respective local opponents to meet in the final on 6 October.

Last year, it was Albirax Niigata battling it out with Philippine club Global Cebu in the final, where Albirex Niigata won. In fact, since 2014, no local clubs have actually won the Singapore Cup. The last local team to win was Balestier Khalsa in 2014.

What a farce Singapore football have become, where no local teams can even win their own competition.