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300 Lions fans on 8 FAS-chartered buses reached KL stadium late due to traffic jam, caught 2nd half of match against M'sia
They made their way from Singapore at 12:30pm and reached the stadium close to 10pm.
December 21, 2024, 07:04 PM
Singapore football team fans, who made the trip across the Causeway with eight chartered coaches provided by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to watch the Lions take on Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on Dec. 20, ended up late and caught only half the match.
via FAS Instagram
FAS said the convoy departed Jalan Besar Stadium at approximately noon.
The Straits Times reported that it understands that close to 300 fans travelled in the eight FAS-chartered coaches and the first bus to reach Bukit Jalil did so just past 9:30pm, when the match had already started.
The other buses arrived closer to 10pm, which meant fans were in time for the second half of the game.
There were about 600 Lions supporters in total in the crowd of 31,127.
Should have left earlier?
A fan told ST that the buses should have left Singapore earlier at 9am on a Friday, which was peak travel period as it was close to the weekend and the school holidays have started.
The driving distance between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore is about 350km, and takes about four to five hours to drive there.
An FAS spokesman said the eight buses arrived late “due to unusually high road traffic leading into Kuala Lumpur”.
The unusually bad traffic conditions started even before Melaka, FAS said, adding that it was "deeply sorry for this unforeseen delay".
It was reported that some fans stayed behind in Malaysia at hotels following the match, while others made the return trip back to Singapore at midnight and arrived home early in the morning.
To make up for the delay, FAS said it will arrange for these fans to attend a home match during the Asian Cup qualifiers in 2025 as well as a training session.
Singapore through to next round
The Lions secured a 0-0 draw against hosts Malaysia to qualify for the Asean Championship semi-finals for only the second time since they last won the title in 2012.
They are through to the last four.
Malaysia crashed out.
Top photo via FAS
