On new FAS chief Forrest Li’s shoulders lies the task of lifting S’pore football out of the doldrums

Lion City Sailors chairman Forrest Li embracing Song Ui-young after the team beat Sydney FC in the Asian Champions League Two semi-final, first leg at Jalan Besar Stadium on April 9, 2025. ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY

Commentary On new FAS chief Forrest Li’s shoulders lies the task of lifting S’pore football out of the doldrums

As he nurses one “baby” – tech conglomerate Sea Limited – to full health, Singaporean billionaire Forrest Li has decided to adopt another one as he was sworn in as the new Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president on April 28.

Like actual parenthood, the 47-year-old will have his hands full as he looks to get Singapore football back on the right track after this “prodigal child” went wayward in recent years.

Once in the world’s top 100, the four-time Asean champions are now a lowly world No. 161 and sixth in South-east Asia.

The Lions suffered a historic defeat by 175th-ranked Nepal in March, the Lionesses are ranked No. 139, and the youth teams suffered heavy defeats, such as the Young Lions’ 7-0 mauling by Malaysia at the 2023 SEA Games.

Li will know there is no silver bullet to make Singapore instant football powerhouses – in Asean, Asia and then the world.

After all, he was in a similar situation with his first “baby” when Sea’s share price plunged for two years before he steered it back to self-sufficiency and profitability in 2023.

At the heart of the recovery is getting the hiring and firing right, and unyielding commitment.

Just as a child needs good teachers, coaches, mentors and caretakers to look after his educational, sporting and developmental needs, Li will need a capable secretariat to run the men, women’s and youth teams, competitions, marketing and communications departments at a high level.

This of course requires paying the right price for the relevant talent.

However, for far too long, the FAS has had the highest expenditure among all the national sports associations – it spent $30.5 million from April 2023 to March 2024 – but still finds itself strapped with just too many aspects to support and develop.

On the pitch, the national senior and youth teams must be well equipped with capable backroom staff but reinforcements must also be made at its Jalan Besar headquarters.

Former employees shared stories with The Straits Times about how FAS staff “end up doing too many things, which make it hard to focus on doing something well” due to inadequate headcount.

One said: “For example, the marketing staff may spend a lot of time putting together events, and not have time to think about how to market stuff.

“The lean (staffing) means there is little time to get together and plan ahead properly because football is non-stop with the league and international breaks, so we were just trying to keep our heads above the water.

“It’s not like there’s a queue of people clamouring to join FAS, so to have enough headcount, there’s a need to have better pay and benefits for people to feel it’s worth working the long hours on weekdays and weekends.”

Compared to previous custodians of local football, Li, third among Singapore’s richest in Forbes’ annual list of global billionaires released on April 1 with a net worth of US$8.6 billion (S$11.3 billion), comes with much more financial muscle and influence.

His arrival provides the FAS a chance to break out of the quandary.

Even though he and his FAS council members are volunteers, there is an expectation for him to inject fresh funds.

If he does, Li is likely to do so in a prudent way, given how he has splurged millions on his club as Lion City Sailors president, but in a data-driven way that is not partial to star names.

It remains to be seen how big a role he will play in the potential privatisation of the Singapore Premier League (SPL).

But there is an urgent need to spruce up the domestic competition that houses the bulk of local professional footballers and enable the clubs to reduce their reliance on handouts.

This will, in turn, raise the value and marketability of the league and lower the cost of subsidising the clubs.

While Li is likely to use his vast network to bring in partners and sponsors to invest in Singapore football, the FAS employees – headed by general secretary and former Sailors chief executive Chew Chun-Liang – need to pull out all the stops to create compelling value propositions and be genuine in stakeholder management.

Several former FAS sponsors told ST similar accounts of how they felt they were not engaged enough during their partnership, and how “they would reach out to us only when it’s time for renewal”.

It is understood that communication was also not a strong suit of previous FAS regimes. But this is absolutely necessary as it deals with government agencies, statutory boards, SPL, Singapore Football League and Island Wide League clubs, affiliates, players, parents and the public to seek their buy-in and cooperation.

Most of them are rational enough not to expect to agree on everything but they would prefer an openness to innovation, as well as accountability and transparency in the new era.

Like raising a child, developing Singapore football takes a lot of time, effort and money, and there is no guarantee of how it will all turn out despite the best efforts of the custodians.

But, for the first time, local football has the backing of both a billionaire FAS president and the government through the Unleash The Roar national project.

In terms of lifting the fortunes of Singapore football, it feels like it’s now or never.

David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.

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