2015 saw several turning points in Singapore football, but they were mostly negative. Singaporeans witnessed unique developments, including some downright ridiculous ones.

10 issues illustrate why 2015 was a regrettable year.

Secondary league

Among FIFA's 209 members worldwide, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) seems special, but for the wrong reasons. The FAS wants to turn its premier league into a feeder system (see below) for the ASEAN Super League (ASL).

Opposition against the FAS plan came fast and furious.

In a rare (perhaps even unprecedented) move, The Straits Times Forum published as many as five letters on Singapore football (see below) within the short span of just seven days, all within the first week of 2016.

Even a former FAS council member (George Pasqual) criticised the FAS plan, while one Alvin Tan articulated that the FAS concept of building a national team through a regional league is "bound to collapse", especially when half of Singapore's 25-man ASL squad won't get to play regularly.

But the following might prevent the S-League from becoming a secondary league.

1. All ASL countries field their national teams (to be enhanced by foreign players).

2. Hold all domestic league matches on weekends and ASL matches in midweek.

This will allow all ASEAN national coaches to pick their in-form players from the various domestic leagues to compete in the ASL every week.

Fielding foreign players in ASL teams raises the standard of play and prevents the ASL from duplicating the Suzuki Cup (ASEAN Championship).

Paralysis

The FAS Strategic Plan, launched in April 2010, aimed to propel Singapore into Asia's top 10 by 2015. But instead of elevating the national team, it dug a deeper hole for the Lions. Singapore was among Asia's top 20 (127th globally) in April 2010. Currently, the Lions are 25th in Asia and 148th in the world.

2015 was the second time in six seasons all three domestic trophies were swept away by foreign teams.

Is Singapore suffering from football paralysis? Our national football development appears frozen, unable to move forward.

Overblown

There were, however, some bright spots.

In February, Safuwan Baharudin became the first Singaporean to play down under. He scored twice (Goal #1; Goal #2) in six matches for Melbourne City, although the A-League club later decided not to employ him permanently.

In June, Singapore earned an improbable 0-0 draw against Japan during a World Cup qualifier in which Izwan Mahbud fought off every Samurai Blue sword swinging at him.

The custodian's 18 saves earned him a trial with a second-tier Japanese club.

There was much hype about the duo's prospect of finding greener pastures overseas, but all that chatter was overblown. Both players remain in humble settings (Singapore's Tampines Rovers for Izwan and Malaysia's PDRM FA for Safuwan).

Ridiculous

Remember this referee wardrobe fiasco, and this "world first"? Well, this is even more ridiculous: The Republic's highest-profile national sports team is prevented from playing in Singapore's own tournament (Merlion Cup - see below) because the operator of its home stadium charges excessive fees.

I wonder if the government had thought it through thoroughly before deciding on a public-private partnership (PPP) to rebuild the National Stadium. Is there any backup when commercial interests take precedence over the public interest?

If not, do we just ignore national sporting interests because the Sports Hub PPP model isn't working well?

Election

Unlike every other country, Singapore was allowed to have government influence in football for decades despite Article 17 of the FIFA Statutes (see below).

Last July, FIFA finally decided to show the red card to Singapore football's unique relationship with the government (see below).

After revising its constitution, FAS will hold open elections in June.

While I might have indirectly triggered the upcoming election, the most important question now is: Will the new FAS chief continue the policies and programmes of the current president or introduce better initiatives?

Stay tuned for Part Two of this 2015 review of Singapore football.

Michael Y.P. Ang is a Singaporean freelance journalist and an ex-sports officer at the former Singapore Sports Council. In 1999, he was among the core group of journalists who helped launch Channel NewsAsia, where he covered sport for several years.

Follow his Facebook page Michael Ang Sports for his views on sport in Singapore.

Top photo by Singapore SEA Games Organising Committee / Action Images via Reuters.

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