In February, the S.League made the Committee’s shortlist of the Top Ten Asian Leagues to be revamped in a drive to make them more commercially viable and attractive to fans.

The adventurous reformatting and expansion of the AFC Champions League will see more club sides across Asia taking part with more prize money at stake.

Singapore's S.League club and cup champions currently compete in the AFC Cup since the AFC introduced the continent's second-tier club competition back in 2004. The AFC Cup is also due for a revamp in 2009.

Mr. Hideki Kato and Mr. Tokuaki Suzuki from the AFC Professional League Committee – which was set up in May 2006 to re-launch professional leagues in selected Asian markets – had high praise for the S.League following their inspection.

Implementation plans for the improvement and re-launch of the national leagues will be based on the overall assessment, with the top leagues participating in future editions of the AFC Champions League.

The four objectives of the AFC Professional League Committee are:

- To improve and establish commercially feasible professional leagues in Asia;
- To raise the competitiveness of Asian football;
- To improve the AFC club competitions including the AFC Champions League;
- To enhance the commercial value of the Asian football market.

"I have been very impressed with what I've seen so far," said Mr. Suzuki. "This is a league with a strong learning culture where everyone is eager to learn to be the best.

"The S.League is very forward-looking in embracing new technology and we are also very excited by the fresh and innovative ideas that the S.League management has come up with to raise their brand profile and brand equity."

When asked about the S.League's salary cap, Mr. Suzuki said: "Salary caps are there as a guide to help the clubs. If wages keep on increasing, this may result in the clubs getting into financial trouble.

"Setting a salary cap can prevent the rich clubs from buying up all the good players and creating a gap between themselves and the weaker clubs. But we should also continue to pay our players well to reward them so that others will see becoming a professional footballer as a good career path."

Both Mr. Kato and Mr.Suzuki were at the Toa Payoh Stadium last Tuesday and met with officials from Gombak United the following day.

The two AFC officials also called on S.League champions SAFFC and Geylang United as well as the Singapore Sports School before rounding off their visit by catching the Friday Night Football clash between Woodlands Wellington and Balestier Khalsa at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

"The neutral venue matches on Friday nights and the weekend matches are both excellent ideas to get families down to the stadiums to support their favourite teams," said Mr. Suzuki.

"From speaking to the clubs, we have also seen that they are very professional," he continued. "The clubs that we have visited are not only well-run and ambitious, but they have well-defined mission statements about their plans for the future.

"Their strong emphasis on youth development is also something that we feel very passionately about at the AFC, although we would encourage them to start working with the children at an even younger age."

In order to host the continent's best club sides in the AFC Champions League, at least two stadiums will have to have a capacity of at least 5,000, roofs over part of the spectator stands, doping control facilities as well as separate seating and a lounge for VIPs, according to the criteria set by the AFC.

Mr. Suzuki said that although some of the stadiums here would need work before they could pass the criteria set by the AFC's Ad-Hoc Committee, he is confident that the FAS and the S.League would have little problem in that department.

"Most of the facilities that I have seen here are a bit old and need improvement," Mr. Suzuki said. "For example, the media facilities at the stadiums could do with some upgrading works but I believe that there are already plans for that."