Singapore pull out of AFC Champions League

In an interesting but surprising development in Asian football the city-state of Singapore have taken a strategic decision not to play in the 2011/12 AFC Champions League. The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) have pulled out due to the enhanced criteria set for all the member Football Associations from next year onwards. And one of the criteria is that no foreign teams are allowed in the top tier of Asian nations.

Currently there are three foreign teams playing in the S-League. The latest entrant has this season been French outfit Etoile FC plus there are Beijing Guoan Talent (China) and Albirex Niigata Singapore (Japan). And due to these sides Singapore no longer qualifies for the AFC Champions League under the new rules and regulations.

FAS president Zainudin Nordin in a letter to the AFC president Mohamed bin Hamman wrote, "We concluded that due to our current lack of critical mass in key areas such as talent pool and resources, there is still a pressing need for us to continue having foreign teams participating in our league, to help address these gaps in our game and safeguard the sustainability of our league in football excellence, commercial and financial terms."

But Nordin left open when Singapore would next compete in the AFC Champions League. Nordin termed it at an "opportune time under the right circumstances in the near future" Singapore would return to the continents top tier competition.

AFC president bin Hamman reacting to Singapore's decision said, "We have taken on board the situation of the FAS. We hope they will consider seeking direct entry to the ACL soon. It is hard to see Singapore out of AFC's professional football activities in spite of their great potential. We will work hard towards seeing them playing an active role in our professional football programmes in the future."