AFC | |
---|---|
Founded | 1892 | (as Singapore Amateur Football Association)
FIFA affiliation | 1952 |
AFC affiliation | 1954 |
AFF affiliation | 1984 |
President | Lim Kia Tong |
Website | http://www.fas.org.sg |
The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is the governing body of football in Singapore. It was founded as the Singapore Amateur Football Association in 1892, which lays claim to being the oldest Football Association in Asia. The football association underwent a name change to its current name on 13 January 1966.
The FAS is responsible for the organisation and development of football and advancing the game at all levels in Singapore, including its flagship S.League and the Singapore national football team. Providing a structure for the game to flourish and governing the running of football in Singapore, the FAS also ensures that the Laws of the Game are adhered to, from the professional S.League to amateur leagues.
The FAS also manages the organisation and running of league and cup competitions, the stewardship of international teams, the establishment of youth development, women's football, refereeing and coaching frameworks.
The Singapore national football team, administered by FAS, is the most successful side that incorporated foreign-born players in ASEAN Football Championship history, winning the regional international tournament four times in 1998, 2004/5, 2007 and 2012. Singapore is behind Thailand after the Thais won their 5th time in the regional competition (as of 2016).
FAS places a lot of focus on football development and is currently one of the very few football associations in Asia to have a comprehensive national age group programmes with U-15, U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-23 teams (known as Young Lions, who compete in the country's professional S.League).
All S.League clubs have also fully implemented their own Centre of Excellence (COE) programs for the Under-14s, adding on to the existing U-16s and U-18s program. An expansion of FAS' Junior Centres of Excellence (JCOE) for our U-8, U-10 and U-12 age-groups early this year saw our centres grow from 3 to the current 10 and the start of an Under-6 age-group at one of our centres in June 2012.
In the 2012 edition of the Canon Lion City Cup, a few players from Singapore U-16 squad were singled out for praise by coaches of top academy teams from around the world, including CR Vasco da Gama, AFC Ajax Amsterdam, FC Porto and Manchester City, who also competed in the same youth tournament.