Singapore’s under-22 men’s football team will not participate in future Asian Games

SINGAPORE: The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced on Tuesday (11 July) that Singapore’s under-22 men’s football team will not participate in the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games.

The FAS said the decision was made after reviewing conflicts between the teams’ performances and schedules in the Southeast Asia (SEA) Games.

The association made the announcement last Friday. 10 recommendations to improve your country’s performance at future SEA Gamesafter the team was eliminated from the group stage five times in a row.

Young Lions also suffered 7-0 fistfight Losing to Malaysia in the final group match in May was Singapore’s biggest loss at the 2001 SEA Games, which became an age-group competition.

The FAS said the decision not to participate in the next Asian Games was in line with one of the recommendations of the review.

The U-22 squad will focus on the SEA Games and the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup Qualifying Tournament.

The FAS said the Asian Games are outside the framework of FIFA and will be held in the same month as the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers.

The FAS said Sport Singapore supports the decision and the National Olympic Council of Singapore has no objection to the team not participating in the Asian Games.

Yong Lyons last participated in the Asian Games in 2014. They did not meet his 2018 Asian Games standards.

FAS Acting President Bernard Tan said: “Over the past few weeks, FAS has undergone a period of introspection and is currently in the process of implementing recommendations from the recent SEA Games review.”

FAS general secretary Yazien Buhari said the association had considered the preparation time required to prepare the team for each tournament and considered the contributions of the players to clubs, schools and national service.

“Participation will be particularly challenging given that the Asian Games will be held after the AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers,” he added.

The Singapore women’s team will continue to participate in the Asian Games, which have been postponed to September 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.