Football scores more funding

Football scores more funding

FOOTBALL will be getting a boost in funding this year, receiving more than $1.5 million to not only encourage talent but also rally Singaporean fans as a whole.

The sum is 50 per cent more than it was allocated during the last financial year which starts in April by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) in the Annual National Sports Association Grant Exercise.

The total figure for grants given to national sports associations (NSAs) has also been upped by about 24 per cent to $67.24 million this year, as compared to $54.17 million last year.

This was announced by Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, at a press conference held at the SSC headquarters in Kallang yesterday.

Also present was SSC chairman Richard Seow and Mr Bob Gambardella, chief of the SSC's sports-development group.

Mr Teo said: "We think team sports are important...Invest in team sports that can possibly bring us glory, as well as team sports that can bond our nation...Some sports have a special place in our hearts, like football."

Mr Seow said that "nothing galvanises a nation" like team sports such as football. He added: "Everyone harks back to the old days of the Malaysia Cup. We are trying to recreate that (and) capture those dreams again."

Team sports will receive $8.32 million this year, up from $8.11 million last year. Mr Zainudin Nordin, president of the Football Association of Singapore, said he was glad to hear that the sport will get more funds as it will come in handy to groom new talents.

-News courtesy of Omy-