By Daniel Teo | Fit to Post Sports
Local football fans Yahoo! Singapore spoke to have voiced their opinion on the recent National Service-LionsXII saga.
It was reported in The New Paper that only 15 players travelled to Ipoh on Monday for their Malaysian Super League (MSL) match against Perak on Wednesday evening, with Hariss Harun, Yasir Hanapi, Shakir Hamzah, Safuwan Bahrudin and Khairul Nizam only able to join up with the squad on Tuesday due to NS commitments.
Players who are Full-time NS servicemen (NSF) have been utilizing their annual leave for away fixtures this season and it has been revealed that the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) has rejected a season's worth of leave applications by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) before the season started.
Mindef spokesman Colonel Desmond Tan has made it clear in his TNP quote that the LionsXII players will not be excused from their NS duties.
"Where exigencies of service permits and subject to the merits of each case, Mindef allows national sportsmen, who are supported by the SSC, Full-Pay Unrecorded Leave (FPUL) to represent Singapore in selected major international competitions," he said.
"The MSL is a football league and not an international competition. Mindef does not grant FPUL for participation in the MSL."
This has sparked a big debate among the local football fraternity.
Dave Law, a Business Development manager, told Yahoo! Singapore that authorities should start putting into action what they promised and blamed National Service for stunting the growth of our athletes.
He lamented: "One hand we are talking about supporting local sports. On the other hand we are killing them off.
"National Service is singlehandedly responsible for the sporting death of many aspiring potential medal winners."
Justin Mark Roy, a follower of local football, believes playing for the country - albeit not in an international competition - is a form of national service itself.
"Playing for your country is a service, be it in any sport," he declared.
"If NS continues to be a restriction to our talents, then our field of sports, arts and sciences will all suffer."
While some are disappointed by the lack of support from the NS bodies, there are others who understand and back Mindef's decision against granting leave to the LionsXII players.
Yahoo! Singapore Facebook reader Muhd Khalis Rifhan said: "Lets be fair to Mindef. LionsXII is not the Singapore national team. So this ruling make sense.
"LionsXII is a club and should be treated like one and not be accorded status like a national team."
Yahoo! Singapore reader WP added: "Good decision by Mindef and SPF. Don't waste time and resources on sports where we cannot excel. Singapore football is nothing but rubbish."
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