2015年12月25日星期五

Merry Christmas 圣诞快乐


2015年11月25日星期三

LionsXII out of Malaysia Super League

LionsXII out of Malaysia Super League

In a post on its website, the FAM said it is not renewing the MOU signed with the Football Association of Singapore in 2011, and so the LionsXII will no longer play in the MSL beginning in 2016.

The LionsXII will not be playing in the Malaysia Super League (MSL) in 2016, announced the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) at a press conference late Tuesday evening (Nov 24) in Kuala Lumpur, following a meeting among FAM's executive committee.

In a post on its website, the FAM said it is not renewing the MOU signed with the Football Association of Singapore in 2011, and so the LionsXII will no longer play in the MSL beginning in 2016.

The side is currently involved in the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals, where they lost 4-1 to Pahang in the first leg on Tuesday night.

The LionsXII have been playing in the MSL since 2012. The vacancy left by the Singapore-based team will be filled by another team with a playoff.

~News courtesy of Channel News Asia~

2015年11月10日星期二

Singtel bags EPL rights for next 3 seasons

Singtel bags broadcast rights for next 3 EPL seasons

Singtel announced yesterday that it has won the Singapore broadcast rights to all English Premier League (EPL) matches for the next three seasons starting from August next year.

This comes a week after the telco's Australian subsidiary, Optus, said it won the Australian rights to broadcast the popular British football league, also known as the Barclays Premier League, because it is sponsored by Barclays Bank.


Yuen Kuan Moon, chief executive of Singtel's Singapore consumer business, said in a statement yesterday that Singtel TV fans "can be assured that their football experience stays uninterrupted at rates that remain affordable".


Mr Yuen added: "Since the beginning, our aim (has been) to bring the Premier League and other football properties to as many Singaporeans as possible. Football is for everyone and we intend to work with all relevant parties to make sure fans get access to the best League experience."


Singtel has held the rights to broadcast the EPL here since 2009, when it wrested the 2010-13 season rights from incumbent StarHub, which had been showing the games since 1997. Singtel reportedly spent hundreds of millions of dollars to secure the rights. Singtel secured the rights to the 2013-16 season again in 2012.


The EPL rights boosted Singtel's pay TV subscriber base significantly from 78,000 as of March 31, 2009, to 423,000 as of March 31 this year.


~News courtesy of My Paper~

2015年10月21日星期三

2015年8月24日星期一

2015年8月20日星期四

2015年8月14日星期五

2015年8月12日星期三

Ikhsan Fandi looking to make his mark in Lion City Cup

Ikhsan Fandi looking to make his mark in Lion City Cup

The Lion City Cup is a competition that has unearthed local football stars like Fandi Ahmad, V Sundramoorthy and Shahril Ishak.

Now, Ikhsan Fandi, the son of Fandi Ahmad, will be looking to etch his name in Singapore football history when the tournament kicks off on Friday (Aug 14), 6pm at Jalan Besar Stadium.

Ikhsan is part of the national under-16 team. Comparisons are likely to be made between him and his father, but the 16-year-old is eager to prove he is his own man.

"Hopefully, we win this thing, but for me I just want to score,” said Ikhsan. “I'll just turn it into something positive, make myself work harder, and prove them if they think that it's just because of my father and brother that I'm in the team, I'll show them on the field."

The Singapore under-16s will be up against the Liverpool under-16s in the first game and the team is ready to go.

Said Ikhsan: "It's a good platform for us, for our team to see where we are right now and just to show Singapore what we have. The team is really excited and they want to do well. So they're really fighting for their spot in the first 11."

Meanwhile, the Singapore under-15 team will also be in action against the Tottenham under-16s. Head coach V Selvaraj said the competition comes at the right time, ahead of the AFC Under-16 Championship qualifiers, which begin in September.

Coach Selvaraj said: "These two games definitely will be a good gauge for us, to see where we stand. We will have another two weeks after that to prepare and work on our weaknesses and build on our strengths to prepare for the AFC tournament."

The first match of the Lion City Cup is between the Singapore under-15s and Tottenham under-16s.

The youth tournament is making a return to the local football calendar after a year's absence. Fandi Ahmad had helped Singapore win two Lion City Cup titles.

~News courtesy of Channel News Asia~

2015年7月29日星期三

FAS reviews Singapore's showing in SEA Games football

FAS reviews Singapore's showing in SEA Games football

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) said on Wednesday (Jul 29) that it “acknowledges that the Singapore public, as it should, expected more from its (National Under-23) team during the SEA Games”, following a review of their performance.

In a statement, FAS also said it was “hugely disappointed that key staff have taken to the press to engage in a public spat”.

National head coach Bernd Stange and former national under-23 coach Aide Iskandar were hauled up by FAS for trading accusations publicly in the aftermath of the Young Lions' poor showing at the Games. Singapore crashed out of the Games after losing to Indonesia in the Group A match.

Stange and Aide’s behaviour not only “violates the teamwork and respect” FAS seeks to promote within the organisation, it also “explicitly violates the FAS Code of Conduct and Terms of Employment Contract”, said the association.

FAS added that efforts will be made to review the team management decisions before and during the tournament, and tactical decisions taken by coaching staff. It will also review the preparation of the team and players for the tournament, including a relook at the rest and training schedules.

Additionally, FAS said it would make the effort to review the involvement of parties and communication between management, technical and support staff so that issues will be managed upfront.

~News courtesy of Channel News Asia~

2015年7月27日星期一

Community Shield - Chelsea vs Arsenal

2015 FA Community Shield - Chelsea vs Arsenal
Live on SCTV Indonesia
2 August, Sunday


2015年7月13日星期一

Everton land in Singapore for Barclays Asia Trophy

Everton land in Singapore for Barclays Asia Trophy

English football side Everton FC touched down in Singapore on Monday (Jul 13), hoping to start its pre-season tour in a positive fashion in the upcoming Barclays Asia Trophy.

The Toffees have brought a 24-man strong squad for their two National Stadium matches, against Stoke City on Wednesday and another with either Arsenal or the Singapore Select XI team on Saturday.



All smiles upon arrival into Singapore for the Barclays Asia Trophy (Photo: Jack Board)

Among the squad are new Everton recruits Tom Cleverley, who has reunited with manager Roberto Martinez from their days at Wigan, and Spanish winger Gerard Deulofeu, who joined the club on a permanent basis in the summer for a reported £4.2 million (S$8.85 million) after a loan stint from Barcelona FC.

Romelu Lukaku, Seamus Coleman and Ross Barkley are all expected to take their place in the side, as Everton build towards the upcoming English season, hoping to go better than their 11th place finish in 2014/15.

Missing from the travelling squad are England left-back Leighton Baines, who is out with an ankle injury, Darron Gibson, who is nursing a wounded foot, and the injury-cursed Bryan Oviedo, still recovering from a toe injury sustained in April.

Kevin Mirallas and James McCarthy feature in the squad, despite rumours the pair are being targeted by Tottenham in the summer transfer window.

Several young players including promising striker Conor McAleny and Luke Garbutt will be looking to build on their fledgling Everton careers.

Members of the public can watch Everton, Arsenal and Stoke City, train at the National Stadium on Tuesday evening.

~News courtesy of Channel News Asia~

Arsenal in Singapore for Barclays Asia Trophy

Arsenal in Singapore for Barclays Asia Trophy

The 27-man squad of English football giant Arsenal FC, including new recruit Petr Cech, arrived in Singapore Monday (Jul 13) ahead of showcase matches this week in the Barclays Asia Trophy friendlies.

Arsenal will take on a Singapore Select XI on Wednesday before an all-Premier League clash against either Everton or Stoke City on Saturday, in a showcase tournament for the clubs’ Southeast Asian fan base.

It is the first time the Gunners have participated in the Asia Trophy and their first visit to Singapore shores since 1991.

"I don't think it's bad - about the heat here - because we want to sweat a little bit," manager Arsene Wenger said. "We want to put the effort in, everyone's fighting for places now so it's an important game already for us.

"You want to win every game and you know a few years ago no-one was interested in preparation but now there's so much," he said. "The pressure is on us to do better."



Arsenal have brought a near-full squad on tour as they kick-start preparations for the upcoming English season, but will be missing the attacking trio of Chilean superstar Alexis Sanchez, last-season recruit Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky.

Sanchez will rest after winning the Copa America on home soil last month, while Welbeck is continuing his recovery from a knee injury.

Olivier Giroud, Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere are prime candidates to lead the Arsenal line-up; the latter looking to break back into the starting side after an injury-interrupted 2014-15.



Mikel Arteta also experienced an inconsistent season and said he was hoping to build some good preparation for the year ahead as well as impress the large contingent of Gunners fans in Singapore.

"We've heard it's going to be quite crazy here so we're hoping to have a good experience. We've been in Asia before so we know what it's like," Arteta said.



Fans may get their first glimpse at Cech in a Gunners strip after the Czech goalkeeper completed a 10 million pound (US$15.5 million) transfer from champions Chelsea in the off-season.

He will compete with established number one Wojciech Szczesny for time in goal.

Wenger said he could make a difference to Arsenal's title ambitions when asked why he had signed the veteran stopper. "First of all his talent, his experience and the fact he has won before, that can strengthen the team's belief," he said.

Wenger confirmed he was confident of keeping his three top keepers at the club, despite the increased competition with Cech's arrival.



Wenger is rumoured to be looking to bolster the squad’s defensive assets, with Roma’s Kostas Manolas and Manchester United’s Johnny Evans reported to be transfer targets. "It doesn't depend on my wish, if we can find still one or two players we'll do it," Wenger said.

Established defenders Hector Bellerin, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal, Kieran Gibbs and Mathieu Debuichy are likely to get time on the pitch during Arsenal’s two matches in Singapore.

Wenger said he was not surprised by the £49 million transfer of Raheem Sterling to Manchester City, nor the big money deals secured by Manchester United for Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin.

The general public can watch Arsenal, as well as Everton and Stoke, train at the National Stadium on Tuesday evening.

~News courtesy of Channel News Asia~

2015年7月7日星期二

S'pore Pools eyes online bets for Euro 2016

S'pore Pools eyes online bets for Euro 2016



PLAYING SAFE: Any operator looking to get into online betting must be not-for-profit and has to include "robust social safeguards" in the websites to help gamblers control their activity. 

Legal online betting in Singapore could kick off as early as next June, in time for the Euro 2016 football championships.

Betting operators Singapore Pools and the Singapore Turf Club (STC) have applied to be exempted from laws that curb online betting, The Straits Times has learnt.

Singapore Pools has also confirmed that it has hired British giant OpenBet, which already provides online gambling software for major bookmakers such as William Hill, Paddy Power and Betfair, to help replace its current website with one which can offer sports betting.

This comes ahead of an Aug 1 deadline for lottery operators to apply to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to be exempted under the Remote Gambling Act, which came into force on Feb 2.

MHA confirmed with The Straits Times that both Singapore Pools and STC have applied for certificates of exemption to "offer remote gambling services for their existing products".

Singapore Pools currently offers football and motor-racing betting, as well as lottery games like 4D and Toto, while STC takes bets for horse races.

MHA said that the applications will take nine to 12 months to evaluate, based on "strict" criteria.

Any operator looking to get into online betting must be not for profit and must include "robust social safeguards" in the websites to help gamblers control their activity.

Singapore Pools plans to display the time spent on the gambling website and even allow people to apply for self-exclusion orders.

It also told The Straits Times that it is likely to separate its betting website from its corporate site to ensure that it will pass compliance checks by the MHA's Gambling Regulatory Unit. According to the documents obtained by The Straits Times, the look and feel of both sites should be coordinated to "reduce customer confusion".

It is understood that it will cost about $10 million for OpenBet to build a new site.

A steering committee, led by Singapore Pools chief executive Seah Chin Siong, has been set up to oversee the operator's sports business and IT teams, which are working to get the site up and running in time for Euro 2016. The teams are said to be working with banks on how to link customer bank accounts to the betting system.

The Straits Times understands that the OpenBet team will be in Singapore next week to conduct workshops on how to run online betting operations.

The Remote Gambling Act criminalises a host of remote gambling activities, including phone betting, unless exemption is specifically obtained.

So far, 11 people - who allegedly collected bets amounting to about $3 million - have been nabbed for flouting the remote gambling laws.

The online gambling industry here is estimated to have raked in some $500 million last year from foreign- and locally based gambling portals before they were shut down.

~News courtesy of My Paper~

2015年2月12日星期四

英超转播费料猛涨 创106亿天价

英超转播费料猛涨 创106亿天价



英国天空电视台和英国电信以51亿英镑,标获英超2016年至2019年英国境内电视直播权,我国球迷担心以后得付更高价才能收看球赛。(档案照)

未来3年的英超本土直播权猛涨70%,创下106亿元天价,本地转播费随时水涨船高,球迷考虑转上网看,或到公共场所看直播。

据报道,英国天空电视台和英国电信以破纪录总合51亿英镑(105亿8000万新元)天价,获得英超2016年至2019年的英国境内电视直播权,比目前合约金额高出70%。

其中天空电视买下5个转播配套,共126场次的转播权,英国电信买下剩余两个共42场次,签订的转播费比目前合约金高出70%。

《联合晚报》