Tanjong Pagar United to sit out 2015 S.League season

Tanjong Pagar United to sit out 2015 S.League season

Local football club Tanjong Pagar United has confirmed it is sitting out of the next S.League season. It finished 9th in the recently concluded season, in which Warriors FC were crowned champions.

In a Facebook post on Monday (Nov 3), the Jaguars said: "It is confirmed that TPUFC will be sitting out of the 2015 S.League season. We thank all our supporters for your support from 2011 to 2014. Hope to see you again."

No reason was given. Previously, a lack of finances forced Tanjong Pagar United to exit after the 2004 S.League season for six years.

The football club goes back four decades. It was known as Tiong Bahru United Football Club in 1996, before changing to its current name in 1998. It won the S.League Best Fan Club Award from 1997 to 1999.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Ex-S League coach jailed for bribery

Ex-S League coach jailed for bribery

A former S-League coach has been sentenced to three months' jail and ordered to pay a penalty of S$4,000 for accepting and attempting to take bribes.

These bribes were in the form of cash loans of between S$500 and S$20,000.

According to court documents, Kunju Jamaludeen accepted cash loans totalling S$5,000 from four trainees and attempted to get cash loans totalling more than S$30,000 from another five trainees.

He committed the offences between February and June 2011, when he was appointed by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to conduct the Asian Football Confederation 'C' Certificate Coaching Course.

The 56-year-old faced nine counts of corruption for assisting trainees in passing the course.

The prosecution proceeded on four of the charges and took the rest into consideration.

Court documents also stated that Kunju would reveal information about the course test results to the trainees before proceeding to ask for a loan.

He would tell them that he needed the money to fly to Mongolia to negotiate a coaching contract, that his grandson was ill, or that he had problems getting a new house.

As a trainer, he was not supposed to reveal the results to the trainees before the official certificates were given out.

In court, Kunju said he was remorseful about what he had done, and apologised for "bringing a bad name" to the FAS.

District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim, in meting out the sentence, said Kunju's actions had put the "quality and integrity" of the certificates at risk.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

S.League hoping to attract more fans

S.League hoping to attract more fans with new measures

The new S.League season begins this week with star players and a new league format as the management hopes the changes will draw more fans to the matches.

On February 3, the players paraded along Orchard Road painted with their team kits in an attention-grabbing stunt to launch the upcoming S.League season.

And there was a serious message behind it, said S. League's chief executive officer, Lim Chin.

Mr Lim explained: "This is the first season that we have so many good players and star players from overseas. We hope they will make the S.League even more exciting and competitive and that increases the excitement. In turn, we hope that fans will come, give the S.League a chance and see the good football that S.League has."

Former Japanese international Kazuyuki Toda, signed by the Warriors, hopes to pull in more Japanese fans.

"Many Japanese people living in Singapore I know, but I want to meet many Japanese people," said Toda, who played in the 2002 World Cup finals.

Fans can catch Toda's team squaring off in Friday's Charity Shield, against Tampines Rovers which feature another star player, Argentinian Martin Wagner.

The league format has also been tweaked. There will now be a split between the top six and bottom six teams.

One of them will feature the top six sides who will face off in a mini-league to determine the S-League champions. The other mini-league will see the bottom six sides jostling among themselves for final standing.

But not all are convinced that this will work to bring the crowd back to the game. Some fans pointed out that the mainstream crowd will not be interested to attend matches between teams that are fighting for top of the bottom slot. It is still to be seen if the new measures introduced by the S.League will help to bring the fans back.

The management said it cannot expect instant results and the changes will take time to be effective.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Kelong League friendly match

Tampines Rovers win S.League Cup

Football: Tampines Rovers win S.League Cup

Tampines Rovers won their second successive S.League title after beating Malaysia's Harimau Muda 1-0 at Jalan Besar Stadium on Friday night.

The breakthrough came before half-time when Aleksandar Duric was awarded a controversial penalty.

Mustafic Fahrudin slotted home the spot kick.

The penalty was enough to give Tampines their fourth league title as they finished the season with 52 points.

～News courtesy of Channel Newsasia～

S-League title race down to the wire

Football: S-League title race down to the wire

When referee Yazeen Buhari stopped proceedings at the Hougang Stadium on Wednesday night, the DPMM players shot their arms in the air and danced off the pitch as if they had won the championship, dousing their coach Vjeran Simunic in iced water as he addressed the media.

By beating Hougang United 3-1 on Wednesday night, DPMM ensured the two-horse Great Eastern-Yeo's S-League title race will go down the wire.

The win saw the Bruneians climb to second on 48 points, just one behind league leaders Tampines Rovers, with one game remaining.

DPMM will face Balestier Khalsa on Nov 2 in Brunei Darussalam, but Tampines can seal their second straight title if they beat Malaysia's Harimau Muda at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

But in Simunic's eyes, his players have already won. He said: "In my view, we are already team of the year ... (this result means) we are placed in front of expensively assembled teams like Home United and SAFFC, and good teams like Balestier Khalsa. Our first target was to challenge these teams, and now we are very proud to challenge Tampines who are title holders."

Jordan Webb's 10th-minute strike gave Hougang the lead, but a show-stopping free-kick from Azwan Salleh after 24 minutes drew DPMM level, before Patrick Da Silva (51st) and Ampuan Nurul Azami (60th) ensured all three points for the visitors.

"I don't think the team will need a coach when we play Balestier, there will be 30,000 people (at the stadium) who can win with all our players," said Simunic.

"If Harimau Muda play (against Tampines) as they can play, with all their best players, they can beat any team."

~News courtesy of Today~

New format for S-League next year

New format for S-League next year

The Great Eastern-Yeo's S-League will kick off on Feb 12 next year with a familiar feel provided by the same 13 teams that competed in this year's edition of the tournament. However, it will have an unconventional twist near the end.

After all the teams face one another other home and away, the league will be split into two competitions.

One of them will feature the top seven sides who will face off in a mini-league to determine the S-League champions. The other mini-league will see the bottom six sides jostling among themselves for final standing.

S-League chief executive Lim Chin confirmed the amendments to the format after speaking at a two-hour S-League club chairmen's meeting on Monday night.

He said: "S-League 2013 is starting to take shape, the league format has been decided … and the fitness test is also more or less decided.

"We will be making formal announcements in two weeks when we get final approval for subsidies for clubs to sign marquee players next year. But there is some good news: The funding (request) is already being processed."

Details on the marquee player scheme, however, were still unavailable. Nor was the S-League able to confirm the fact that it will allow clubs to sign five other foreign players up from the current four.

However, Lim has confirmed that, in place of the mandatory Beep Test, footballers will now have to pass a 2.4km running test to be able to play in the league.

TODAY understands that there will be various passing grades for outfield S-League players (10 minutes 15 seconds), Prime League players (10:45) and goalkeepers (12:00), Lim revealed that there will be a monetary incentive offered to those who surpass expectations but declined to give more details.

The S-League has seen crowd numbers dwindle in recent years.

Average attendance also hit an all-time low of 932 at the half-way mark of the season this year. These changes are aimed at breathing life back into the 17-year-old league.

The format modifications will see clubs now play either 28 or 29 games in the S-League season, up from 24 this year. And while the longer season is a change welcomed by many club officials TODAY spoke to, there were some who took issue with the unconventional league format.

A club official, who declined to be named, summed up reservations about the changes when he said: "Part of the beauty of football is having the possibility of smaller teams beating the bigger teams who are gunning for the title. This format removes that part of the excitement in the run-in to the title. Also, who would want to go watch the bottom few teams play against one another in their own mini-league?"

While some feel the marquee player scheme could help to draw the fans, TODAY understands that the football authorities are discussing the possibility of bringing in younger players - those who have fallen out of the top leagues, for example - instead of bigger names who are past their prime, in a bid to ensure higher quality football and, with that, bigger crowds at S-League stadiums. - TODAY

2韩前球员诱踢假球 守门员拒收贿揭真相

2韩前球员诱踢假球　守门员拒收贿揭真相 

芽笼联队守门员雅吉（图／档案照） 

拒收6000元贿赂，芽笼联队守门员向当局揭发真相，导致两名韩籍前球员落网，获得足球总会的表扬。 

芽笼联队守门员雅吉，对前队员金在鸿的贿赂完全不动心。

对方先给他4000元，事成后再比他2000元。 

他说：“我从来都没有动摇过。我在新加坡联赛里踢了那么多年的球，每年都有参加防止贪污的演讲。我清楚明白自己应该做些什么东西。” 

 “我所做的一切（向芽笼联队揭发真相），都是按照条规做的。

我只想要尽快摆脱这起事件，重新专心于足球上。

《联合晚报》

芽笼联队2前球员被控 贿赂3队友踢假球

芽笼联队2前球员被控　贿赂3队友踢假球 

金在鸿被指以4000元，贿赂芽笼联队的守门员莫哈默雅吉。（图／档案照） 

芽笼联队两名韩国籍前球员，涉嫌在前天以1万1000元，贿赂3名前同队队友，包括两个球员和一个守门员，今早被控上法庭。 

韩国籍前球员全炳旭（24岁）和金在鸿（27岁），曾是芽笼联队的球员。 

他们被指贿赂前队友，要他们在昨晚的新加坡职业足球联赛中，故意输给马来西亚幼虎队，结果惹上官司。 

金在鸿和全炳旭目前遭还押，两人今早都表示要认罪。 

《新明日报》

Ex-S.League coach questioned by CPIB

Ex-S.League coach David O'Connor questioned by CPIB

SINGAPORE: Former S.League coach David O'Connor has been questioned by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) on his book about Singapore football.

Publisher Marshall Cavendish confirmed this to Channel NewsAsia on Tuesday.

The book is entitled "Putting The Boot In: Surviving Singapore and the S.League".

In the book, the 61-year-old Australian talks about match-fixing or "kelong" during his coaching stint at Gombak United.

While claiming he declined offers from a bookie and reported the matter to the S.League, O'Connor admits receiving monetary "gifts" from a friend, who betted on Gombak United's games based on information given by him.

The book, which went on sale 10 days ago, also touches on O'Connor's multiple sexual exploits and alcoholism, following his sacking from Gombak United for a season, in 1999.

O'Connor, who arrived in Singapore on Monday to promote the book, could not be reached for comment.

Publisher Marshall Cavendish said O'Connor has left the CPIB office, but it did not not want to say more on the issue.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Kelong League: Hougang vs Balestier

SLeague on StarHub and ESPN

SLeague teams with StarHub and ESPN to broadcast matches live

The S-League has inked a one-year deal with StarHub and ESPN Star Sports to broadcast matches of the 2012 Great Eastern-Yeo's S-League season.

The deal will see 30 matches telecast "live" on StarHub TV Channel 112 and 201 every Thursday at 7.30 pm, starting with a 15-minute preview show before kick-off.

Of these, 26 are from the S-League, and the remaining four from the Starhub League Cup.

The first "live" match will be Thursday's opening S-League match between Gombak United and Harimau Muda of Malaysia at the Jalan Besar Stadium at 7.30pm.

Fans can view the games on StarHub's TV, online and mobile platforms.

The collaboration is part of S-League Version 2.0 to improve Singapore's premier domestic football competition, which will also see the S-League matches shown "live" overseas in Malaysia and Brunei, which S-League CEO Lim Chin believes will boost the S-League's regional appeal.

ESPN Star Sports will also broadcast a 30-minute highlight show across major STAR Sports networks covering 12 countries every Monday at 10pm from Feb 13.

The highights show will also be shown on StarHub, as well as on Astro Arena in Malaysia and Brunei.

~News courtesy of Today~

Subramani leaving Home Utd

Subramani leaving Home Utd

Home United's S-League title aspirations took a knock when they fell 4-0 to Albirex Niigata last Saturday.

The Protectors must now brace for an even bigger hit come the end of the month, when assistant coach S. Subramani parts ways with the Bishan-based club.

"I have to do this now because an opportunity in the education sector has come along and if I don't take this career-development chance now, it may not come again," he told TODAY.

Mani, as he is affectionately known in the fraternity, moved to Home after winning the S-League Player of the Year title in 1998 with Tanjong Pagar United, and has stayed loyal to the club for the rest of his playing career that he called to a close in 2009.

He has won two S-League titles and four Singapore Cups with the club he has served as assistant coach since his retirement.

"This was not an easy decision to make, football has been my life all this while, but I could not pass up on this opportunity, and I won't rule out coming back to football in the future," added the 39-year-old Mani who has 115 caps for Singapore and a degree in Sport Management.

Said Home goalkeeper Lionel Lewis: "He's an extraordinary example of a footballer, a great captain and coach who's willing to help any one of us. That's something we'll definitely miss.

"But we know what we must do (in the league), there are nine games to go, and we have to focus."

Home general manager S. Mahalingam revealed that the club will not bring in a replacement until next season, with former Korean international Kim Dae Eui taking over Mani's duties.

~News courtesy of Today~

Hougang and Etoile matches suspended

Hougang and Etoile matches suspended

Following the events that had forced the abandonment of the Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League 2011 match between Hougang United and Etoile FC, the FAS Competitions Division, the organisers of the tournament, have announced that all matches involving these two clubs will be suspended pending the conclusion of a Disciplinary Committee hearing on the matter.

The match on 23 May 2011 was abandoned after players from both sides were involved in a heated exchange while warming up for the match on the Hougang Stadium pitch, where the match was to be played.

Both clubs have been asked to submit their reports on the incident.

The FAS Disciplinary Committee will convene for a hearing on 3 June 2011.

As a consequence, the following matches will be affected and are to be moved to a later date:

* Match No.91: Etoile FC vs Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore) at Queenstown Stadium (originally scheduled for 26 May 2011)
* Match No.93: Courts Young Lions vs Hougang United at Jalan Besar Stadium (originally scheduled for 28 May 2011)
* Match No.115: SAFFC vs Hougang United at Choa Chu Kang Stadium (originally scheduled for 1 June 2011)

FAS President Zainudin Nordin stated the serious view that has been taken on the incident.

“We have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to violent conduct both on and off the pitch,” he said. “FAS has started investigations and will pursue the matter thoroughly. Any players and officials found guilty of misconduct will be severely dealt with.”

Hougang United chairman Bill Ng also stated the club’s position on the matter in a separate statement to the media.

“It is with great regret that such an unpleasant incident would happen during our home game,” he commented in the statement, released one day after the incident.

“We are sorry that the incident happened in our turf and we want to reiterate that we will not condone such unruly behaviour. We will cooperate fully with FAS in their investigations as we do not tolerate such acts of violence. Any Hougang United Football Club players found guilty would be severely penalised for their wrongdoings.”

~News courtesy of Sleague~

Kelong League Standings 05/11

Home 16 35
Tampines 14 33
SAFFC 14 29
Etoile 12 26
Albirex 14 25
Hougang 14 22
Gombak 15 21
Balestier 15 16
Courts Young Lions 13 12
Geylang 14 11
Tanjong Pagar 14 6
Woodlands 15 5

Kelong League Standings 05/11

Kelong League Table
Team Pld Pts

Tampines 11 29
Home 11 23
SAFFC 11 22
Etoile 10 20
Gombak 11 20
Albirex 11 19
Hougang 11 16
Balestier 11 13
Geylang 11 10
Courts Young Lions 9 5
Woodlands 10 2
Tanjong Pagar 11 2

Tanjong Pagar 0 - 5 Hougang

Tg Pagar 0:5 Hougang
25 Apr 2011 @ Clementi Stadium

Hurray for Hougang!!

Hougang hope!

18 Apr 2011
Hougang 1:0 Albirex

Gombak 0-1 Hougang

FT Gombak 0-1 Hougang

Yes, Hougang you can do it!!!!

Funding boost for S-League clubs

Football: Funding boost for S-League clubs

After an anxious wait, the nine local football clubs in the Great-Eastern-Yeo's S-League received a boost on Monday.

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) revealed that each team could receive up to S$864,000 in total funding each year for the next five years, starting this season.

While the FAS still need to sign off the new figures with their stakeholders, each club could potentially receive S$434,000 in cash -- up from S$310,000 in 2010.

The clubs also stand to receive up to S$430,000 each in outcome-based funding - up to a 100 per cent increase from last year.

The two foreign clubs, French side Etoile FC and Japan's Albirex Niigata will receive up to 60 per cent of the total figure -- cash and funding through the outcome-based initiative -- which could mean a maximum of S$518,400 each.

The S-League features 12 teams, including the Courts Young Lions, which is wholly funded by the FAS.

Last September, the nine local club chairmen made a plea to the FAS for more funding help, with some fearing they would have to quit the competition otherwise.

Besides the increase in funding for the S-League side, each of the nine local clubs will also receive S$110,000 to fund their centres of excellence.

The centres - which will groom the under-14, under-16 and under-18 teams - have to be launched this May.

-News courtesy of Channel Newsasia-