Unfair: some members of the LionsXII team had to balance football and National Service (Picture courtesy of FA …
COMMENT
Seven games into the Malaysian Super League (MSL) season, and the score reads: LionsXII 0 National Service 1.
On Monday, when coach V. Sundramoorthy led his team to Ipoh for a league match against Perak on Tuesday evening, only 15 players were on the plane with him. Others such as vice-captain Hariss Harun and promising centre-back Safuwan Bahrudin joined their teammates only the next day due to National Service (NS) commitments.
Past media reports had stated that these players were rationing their 14-day annual leave so as to last through the entire season.
It was also revealed in The New Paper yesterday that the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) has rejected a season's worth leave applications by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) before the season kicked off last month.
In the same report, Mindef spokesman Colonel Desmond Tan said that players in the MSL will not be accorded the Full-Pay Unrecorded Leave (FPUL) that is given to national athletes chosen to represent the country in "selected major international competitions", under its SAF Sportsmen Scheme.
The reason? Because the MSL is a domestic football league and as such, is not regarded as an international competition.
When Yahoo! Singapore spoke to Sundram at a training session at Jalan Besar Stadium last week, the frustration over the situation was palpable on his face.
"We just have to make do with the situation. All I can say is that come match-days, we will have 11 players competing on the pitch," he said in a voice laced with resignation.
When contacted, FAS President Zainudin Nordin said: "Like any other football club around the world, we agree that it will be ideal if all our players can train and play together on a daily basis."
His next comments were telling, however: "Nevertheless, it is only realistic to acknowledge that there will always be constraints and challenges facing any football team, and we simply have to cope with these challenges, including injuries, suspensions and other commitments such as National Service, and perform to the fullest and best of our abilities.
While his attitude to this thorny issue is laudable, one can't help but feel that more should be done to help the players involved.
As an FAS source reveals, the likes of Hariss and Safuwan have to endure a daily routine that goes something like this: report for NS duties in the morning, attend football training around 6pm in the evening after booking out of camp. By the time training ends, it is usually well past 9pm and the poor sod then has to rush home to ensure he reaches his camp on time the next morning.
This is no way we should treat our best footballers, most of whom are in their early twenties - a time when proper rest and recuperation are needed to ensure they don't suffer a burnout, or worse, a premature end to their budding careers.
This situation is not unique to football. Over in the swimming pool where 16-year-old Joseph Schooling has been making waves after waves, NS is like a looming dark cloud that threatens to derail his descent to the pinnacle of competitive sport.
As the Sunday Times reported, his parents are hoping to defer their son's full time NS enlistment until the 2016 Olympics.
Whether their request - and the swimming fraternity's hope and wish - will be granted is still anyone's guess.
Again, this seems to be a case of NS being an obstacle to sporting excellence.
While I am not suggesting that Singapore should take the cue from South Korea, where elite sportsmen are sometimes exempted from serving in the military, a change in directive from Mindef's top brass is needed.
Understandably, Singapore's defence is top priority. But to truly be a nation of diverse talents, perhaps more leeway should be given to deserving athletes.
The MSL may not be an international tournament, but as Zainudin correctly pointed out, the players will undoubtedly benefit from the exposure.
So grant the players the time they need to train and travel.
That, in the wider scheme of things, can only be beneficial to the progress of our national football team.
And if they eventually bring honours of the senior Lions team, surely that should be counted as them doing a service to our nation too.
In fact, when asked why the FAS had chosen players whom they knew would be affected by NS for the LionsXII squad, Zainudin added: "This is in line with our two-fold objective: to further enhance our youth development programmes and to participate competitively in the three competitions.
But there may be hope yet.
On the same day that the LionsXII departed for Ipoh with a depleted squad, Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing revealed in a briefing to announce its Vision 2030 sports blueprint that Mindef is currently conducting a review of the SAF Sportsmen Scheme.
While no details were announced, one can only hope that the footballers' lot improve after the changes.
And that would surely be music to Sundram's ears.
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