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~

Community Shield - Chelsea vs Arsenal

2015 FA Community Shield - Chelsea vs Arsenal

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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~

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~