FAS ● Sep 21, 2018
FAS hosts first ever Congress Cup
SINGAPORE, 21 SEPTEMEBER 2018 – It was an evening to remember for the members of Singapore’s football fraternity, as they took to the Jalan Besar pitch for the inaugural Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Congress Cup on Friday.
Eight teams representing the FAS, partners and sponsors, the Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League (SPL), the National Football League, women’s football, former internationals and the media took part in the event.
The final was an entertaining match between NFL County and SPL Lions, which saw the latter run out as champions after a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Balestier Khalsa FC Head Coach Marko Kraljević and former Woodlands Wellington FC midfielder Han Yiguang.
The Cup also features as a lead up to the FAS Annual Congress which will be held on Saturday 22 September 2018.
FAS Deputy President, Mr Bernard Tan, said: “The Congress Cup is something that we are going to start as a tradition in FAS to remind us before we sit for Congress why we are doing this because this game has so much to offer in terms of uniting the community together and (also) obviously for us to just have fun.”
The evening started with a 1-0 victory for Partners United against FAS Stunners, a team made up mostly of FAS Council members. The game was refereed by Mr. Yazeen Buhari, General-Secretary of FAS, who is also a former FIFA referee.
FAS President Mr Lim Kia Tong kept goal for the Stunners and was beaten by a low drive from former Singapore international Isa Halim.
The Congress Cup sought to bring together the various stakeholders of FAS for a chance to mingle and interact, according to Mr Yazeen.
“The community consists of many different groups of people, all contributing in diverse ways to the success of the sport,” he told the FAS website.
“Today was a great opportunity for us to get together and interact with each other and also to have a bit of fun. We hope to have more such events to bring everyone together.”
Mr Toh Boon Yi, Chief, Singapore Sport Institute, Sport Singapore, believes that the team spirit developed through playing the sport can help the footballing community grow closer together.
“This event is very good and I think that this is really what football is – having good fun and getting together with the different friends and families and enjoying ourselves,” he said.
Participants also felt that the event was a positive reflection on FAS’ efforts to reach out to the footballing community.
“This shows that the FAS management is more open and is inclusive of outside views,” Sazali Abdul Aziz, Sports Correspondent from The Straits Times, said.
“A few of the media team players have been in the scene for a number of years and this is the first time we’ve had an activity like this, so I think it speaks positively and it bodes well for the future.”
South Avenue Sports Club’s sports secretary and team manager Alim Omar added: “It is good that after a long time, this kind of event is happening. It’s positive and I think it keeps the football fraternity together.”
