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.