Football Association of
Singapore (FAS) president
Zainudin Nordin says there is a possibility of a Singapore
Selection side participating in the next Malaysia Cup.
Mr Zainudin, who is also the Mayor
of Central Singapore District, said the FAS is currently speaking
to the Football Association of
Malaysia (FAM) and are
exploring all possibilities.
Singapore last played and won the
Malaysia Cup in 1994 before withdrawing from the competition
following a dispute with the FAM over gate receipts and started
the S-League
two years later.
Speaking to Yahoo! Singapore on
the sidelines of the ninth series of the Sultan of Selangor’s Cup in Shah Alam,
Malaysia, he added that the FAS is looking at what can be done for
next season and are evaluating the different competitions with the
FAM.
“To be honest, I never stopped having the hope of us
participating one way or another in the Malaysia competition. Two
years ago, we sent our Young Lions to play in their FA Cup and they
performed well. The opportunity is there.”
“We have never left any stones unturned and are always exploring
new ways to have a collaboration on both sides. We know the spirit
of the Malaysia Cup and league in those days, it was always
receiving great support on the ground,” he said.
Fans watching the match between Singapore and Selangor
veterans.
Former Lions skipper Malek Awab, feels that a Singapore
Selection team should participate in the Malaysia Cup.
“People should come and watch this game, just look at the
crowd,” he said, pointing to the 60,000 fans at the Shah Alam
Stadium who were watching the Sultan of Selangor’s Cup.
“Everyone will come and watch if we’re playing in the Malaysia
Cup because the feeling is totally different from an international
match. It’s not for me to decide, but if you ask me, we have to
play in the Malaysia Cup – not the national team but a selection
team like today,” he said.
“Keep the S-League but gather the best players to take part
because if you look at how our boys played today, they were
fantastic in defeating Selangor,” he added.
Malek was referring to the Singapore Selection’s 6-0 thrashing
of the Superleague champions in the Sultan of Selangor’s
Cup.
Goals from Jumaat Jantan, Ivan Jerkovic and a brace each from
Aleksandar Duric and Freddy Mendy sent Selangor crashing to their
second defeat in two days, as they were knocked out of the Malaysia
Cup quarter-finals by Kelantan on Friday.
Said Selangor coach K. Devan, “We only arrived back from Kota
Bahru this morning and the boys are tired after playing Kelantan
but credit to Singapore for playing well.”
When asked about his thoughts on a Singapore Selection side
returning to play in the Malaysia Cup, he said, “We miss having
Singapore playing here, they are a quality team and I feel we
can also improve our standard if they are back.”
“I would leave it to the FAM to decide, if they allow Singapore
to play, you can have this kind of atmosphere every week and it
will be good for football development, plus, it will reignite the
rivalry between Singapore and Selangor,” added the 49-year-old.
The rivalry was certainly reignited in the earlier match between
the veterans of Singapore and Selangor.
The veterans observed a minute silence before the game as a mark
of respect to the late Dollah Kassim who passed away on
Thursday.
Selangor defeated Singapore 1-0, through a late goal from Sharin
Majid.