A possible clash between club and country appears looming over the horizon.
Not just in Singapore but for all participating nations at the upcoming ASEAN Football Federation’s (AFF) Mitsubishi Electric Cup which is scheduled for year-end.
According to online platform ASEAN Football, the dates which have been pencilled in for the tournament are from 23 November till 21 December.
Sources close to TMSG have also confirmed that these are the dates which have been put into to calendar for the Lion City Sailors, which will be participating in the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Champions League 2, part of the newly revamped club competition for the continent being organised by the Asian football body.
With the AFC elite club competitions to stretch from September to December, it appears that the Lions may have to enter the tournament without a bulk of their players including the likes of Hariss Harun, Lionel Tan, Shawal Anuar, Chris van Huizen, Zulqarnaen Suzliman, Nur Adam Abdullah, among others.
At last count, there are at least 12 Lions who are currently with the Sailors.
If the AFF tournament begins on 23 November as planned, there will be two match days in which the Sailors will be involved in.
If Tampines Rovers get past the play-offs, it means more players will be impacted, with national coach Tsutomu Ogura needing to possibly look at considering the likes of recalling Madhu Mohana and Tajeli Salamat back into the mix.
Getting Singapore’s foreign-based Lions like Ikhsan Fandi and Irfan Fandi, and others will also be a problem, possibly leaving Ogura with not much choice, given the local talent pool.
The Sailors and the Stags can also go the way of Johor Darul Ta’zim and not release players for the tournament, given that it is not on the AFC calendar, if it comes down to it.
Sanctioning of the tournament is another story altogether.
Other countries impacted by this include Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Philippines and possibly even Indonesia if they get past the playoff stage.
So far, the AFF has not released the dates for the tournament officially.
Its website has also not been updated and is still showing dates of competitions from 2023.
TMSG has sent in queries to Lion City Sailors about the potential conflict and will update this story if there is a response.
It is also understood that the AFF is trying to solve the scheduling disaster, and one option is to have the tournament begin later and roll into 2025.
But that would mean that match day officials and national associations would need to work through Christmas and New Year, and with operating costs costing more to organise the event.
And given the tournament isn’t sanctioned, would clubs take the risk with players if they have qualified for the knockout stages of the AFC club competitions?
Whatever the case, the time is now right for national football associations in the region to question the validity of the AFF, if there is indeed a place for it in the regional football calendar, or if its relevance has run its course.
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