Forrest Li on Singapore football: ‘The moment nobody talks about it ... that's the end'

CNA

6 hours ago

SINGAPORE: Having stepped up to the top post in local football, new Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president Forrest Li has much on his plate.
Among his priorities are the preparations and operations for the national team, the competitiveness and appeal of the Singapore Premier League (SPL), youth development and infrastructure.
But ultimately, Mr Li, who is the owner of Lion City Sailors, wants local football to be a talking point as well as a source of pride and joy once again.
"For each individual, we have different expectations ... a different way to interpret success," said Mr Li.
"If football can bring us and bring the whole society a bit more ... joy and pride - I would define that as success."
Mr Li pointed out that in the past, there was a sense of national pride in Singapore football.
"It's happened in history ... 20, 30 years ago, football was indeed the pride and joy for every Singaporean. We want to make that happen again," he added.
He was speaking during the Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) media day at Shangri-la Singapore which marked his council's 100 days since taking office.
Mr Li was elected FAS president in late April and succeeded Bernard Tan as the association's chief.
He is more than aware of the task at hand.
"We have the best city planning, the best airport, best highways. A lot of things are world-class - why not football?" said Mr Li.
"I know it's a moonshot, it's a long journey. At this moment, we're not talking about world-class, we're really left behind ... but this is something (where) I see the gap. I want to contribute, I want to make (an) effort."
While people have different views, what would be most worrying is that if Singaporeans are apathetic about local football, Mr Li said in his opening remarks.
"People have very, very different views (on) what should be the right thing to do ... what would be worst is that nobody talks about it," he said.
"When the customers still comment on a certain restaurant, that's a good thing for the restaurant. The moment nobody talks about it, nobody wants to go ... that's the end of the restaurant."
Mr Li's hope is that with success on the field, more people will follow local football and that interest will grow. Singapore are currently 159th in the world rankings.
"Eventually what I hope is people really care, and football becomes a part of people's daily life and it becomes part of a regular family dinner table topic, I think that will be a win for whoever cares about football," he said.
SHOWING "PROGRESS" AND "PRODUCT"
A Singapore citizen who was born in China, Mr Li is best known as the founder of the Sea Group – the technology giant behind retail platform Shopee and gaming platform Garena. Media company Forbes estimated Mr Li's wealth at about US$9.3 billion.
In 2020, Sea acquired one of Singapore's most successful football clubs, Home United, and rebranded the team as the Lion City Sailors.
The team has gone on to achieve myriad successes on the pitch with the company's financial backing.
Most recently, the Sailors pulled off the domestic league and cup double in the 2024-2025 season and made history by becoming the first team from Singapore to reach the final of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Two – where they ultimately fell 2-1 to United Arab Emirates side Sharjah FC.
But it was after the Singapore U-22 team's 0-7 hammering by Malaysia in the 2023 SEA Games that Mr Li first thought of running for the top post.
"I know this matters a lot to a lot of people, to the public and people care about football. But that is exactly the reason why I decided to step up to take this job," he added.
Mr Li added that he had been thinking about ways to contribute to Singapore.
"I appreciate football. For my life, football brought me a lot of excitement, a lot of experiences. At the same time, I really have that same appreciation for Singapore - for my career, for my journey in business, Singapore gave me everything," he said.
"I always think - what can I give back to Singapore society?"
Mr Li said that he hoped to apply best practices from his corporate role and pointed out that there are similarities.
"We are the underdog ... We are in that position where (we are) not the incumbent in the region for football," he added.
Asked if he would be open to tapping his own resources, Mr Li said he was "open-minded".
"Resources are very, very important ... I'm more open-minded. We have this mission and if money can help, we'll find a way to make that happen," he said.
At the same time, he stressed that local football must meet a certain quality for investment to follow.
"We need to show the progress and we need to show the product. And we need to show that football can really draw the attention, bring the happiness, bring the pride to society ... Money will follow the attention, money will follow the pride, and money will follow the joy," Mr Li said.
He pointed out that at the global level, more money flows into sport.
"Singapore football, because of the past several decades, the lack of investment and the lack of attention, we are not ready for that. What we are trying to do is that we need to improve our own quality first," added Mr Li.
One of the first things Mr Li will need to tackle is the hiring of a new men's national team head coach.
In June, FAS announced Tsutomu Ogura's resignation as head coach of the Singapore national team due to personal reasons.
Ogura, who was appointed in February last year on a two-year contract, needed to return to Japan for "pressing personal matters", said the association.
This leaves Singapore looking for its fourth national coach in six years, and FAS has appointed Gavin Lee, former head coach of BG Tampines Rovers FC, as the interim replacement.
"It's not necessarily that the more expensive coach will be the better coach, or in our case the coach (with the better fit). In our selection criteria, we don't really put a cap and say we are only looking for coaches that cost us this much," said Mr Li.
'I hope one day, when we announce the next national team coach, that will be the conversation at every dinner table in every house that evening in Singapore."
The recruitment process is still ongoing and FAS has received 67 proposals for the role. The association subsequently shortlisted 16 individuals with 10 selected for interviews so far.
"It's important to really know the person. We cannot just make a decision by the resume," said Mr Li.
"For the finalists, when we have the serious candidates we consider ... if I need, I will go wherever in the world to meet them and I will invite the candidate to come to Singapore to spend the day with a lot of our people ... to get to know each other."
The short-term goal is for the men's national team to qualify for the Asian Cup, said Mr Li. And the FAS is committed to providing them the necessary resources to do so, he stressed.
This includes a financial incentive structure where players' win bonuses have been tripled and local training allowances almost doubled, said FAS deputy president Desmond Ong in a presentation later in the evening.
Singapore are currently top of their third-round qualifying group on goal difference, with four points after their first two matches. The Lions are ahead of Hong Kong on goals scored, with Bangladesh third and India bottom.
Each of the six group leaders will qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup, and the Lions will return to competitive action with a double header against India in October.
"We are leading the group and this is important. This matters a lot to me personally, to the council, and we take the national team's performance very seriously," said Mr Li.
"We'll try everything we can do to try to qualify."
Ultimately, taking Singapore football in the right direction needs the effort of an entire ecosystem, said Mr Li.
"I believe I'm the right man. This is kind of the reason I decided to step up. I understand this is a huge commitment and that this is a long-term commitment. And I will try my best," he said.