ASEAN Super League
The ASEAN Super League was a proposed international association football competition between domestic club sides run by the ASEAN Football Federation. It was initially scheduled to commence in 2017.[1] In January 2017 it was announced there could be a delay to 2018 or later though.[2]
In June 2017 it was announced that the competition would not take place at all.[3][4]
Reception
Tampines Rovers' 2016 signing Jermaine Pennant said, "I don't think it's going to be beneficial at all for Singapore football if the best players and the best teams are shipped off to a different league, I don't think the fans will appreciate it." His sentiments are shared by team-mate Afiq Yunos.[5]
Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, Crown Prince of Johor and chairman of Malaysian Super League club Johor Darul Takzim, said: "I don't agree with the ASL. I think we're [South-east Asian football] still young and we [should] focus on how it is done in Europe. For now, the Asian Champions League is the highest target. The ASL is not really my cup of tea."[6]
In April 2016, Buriram United's boss Newin Chidchob also said, "Quite simply, I don’t support the idea of an ASEAN Super League and I don’t think it works from either a competitive or organisational perspective. The business terms and the return on the investment are not good enough, I mean, they’re asking small clubs to pay US$5 million (S$6.7m), but how much can those clubs win in this proposed league?”[7]
References
- Justin Ong (29 December 2015). "Singapore football chief says ASEAN Super League 'stepping stone' for local stars to level up". Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- "ASEAN Super League faces more delays after AFF meeting in Singapore". espnfc.com. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- TNP (24 June 2017). "Asean Super League dead in the water". Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- FourFourTwo (24 June 2017). "Proposed ASEAN Super League dead and buried: AFC". Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- Chua Siang Yee (20 January 2016). "Pennant: Sending best players to Asean Super League won't benefit local football". The Straits Times.
- "Johor Crown Prince cool to idea of Asean Super League". "Asia One". 10 April 2016.
- Scott McIntyre (13 April 2016). "Buriram boss pours cold water on ASL concept". FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.