New project to unleash football's roar again will raise the sport's standards

THE Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) bigwigs seem to relish rhetoric. Their language of football is yet again awash with plans, programmes and projects. There is nothing wrong with that. However, when these three "P"s are hammered home with regular monotony, but make little headway in the end, the football fraternity inevitably sighs, weighed down with "same old, same old" syndrome.

Earlier this week, there was an unveiling of another long-term vision to take Singapore football forward with a multitude of plans. The big difference this time is that there is a welcome seriousness about it. Thus the refrains - a stronger league, better youth development programmes, foreign stints for players, coaches' upgrading, and the list goes on.

No doubt, it is an uphill task because the FAS - bogged down with pressure from amateur clubs that feel sidelined, scarred by disciplinary problems at the 2019 Sea Games, and concerned about a leadership challenge - cannot do it alone.