SINGAPORE – Even before a ball has been kicked, Singapore’s prospects at the 2024 Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championship have taken a big hit, with the dates set to spark a club versus country tussle.

On Feb 29, the AFF announced that the 10-team tournament, which has been named Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup, will be from Nov 23 to Dec 21. This will clash with the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) new club competitions – the top-tier AFC Champions League (ACL) Elite and the AFC Champions League 2.

The ACL Elite, which has match days from Nov 25-27 and Dec 2-4, comprises the continent’s top clubs such as Malaysia Super League winners Johor Darul Takzim and the champions of the ongoing Thai League 1.

The ACL 2, which will see action from Nov 26-28 and Dec 3-5, involves teams from Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore, which will be represented by Lion City Sailors. Fellow Singapore Premier League side Tampines Rovers and the eventual winners of Indonesia’s Liga 1 may also qualify via play-offs.

The other countries Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei and Timor-Leste are unlikely to be affected as their clubs play in the new third-tier AFC Challenge League, which does not clash with the Asean Cup.

As the Asean Cup is played outside the Fifa international window, clubs are not obligated to release their players for the biennial tournament, which means the region’s top stars could miss out.

This happened during the 2022 edition, when Thailand were without Buriram’s attacking duo Supachai Chaided and Suphanat Muenta.

National skipper Hariss Harun noted that the Lions, who were knocked out at the group stage in the last edition, would be more affected than their neighbours as Singapore has a smaller talent pool.

The 33-year-old, who also plays for the Sailors, said: “The Asean championship is a realistic stage for the national team to show the changes and improvements we are making with the new national coach (Tsutomu Ogura).

“But it is also very important to do well in the ACL2 to take Singapore up the AFC club competition ranking.

“The players want to give our best for both competitions, and I just hope there is a way the authorities can make things work. The most ideal scenario is that we don’t have to miss either competition.”

A Sailors spokesman echoed the sentiment, as doing well in the ACL 2 is important for Singapore to gain more coefficient points which will determine the country’s qualifying spots for future AFC club competitions.

He said: “While we recognise the significance of the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup for Singapore and our national players, our ACL2 participation is something that the club takes seriously.

“As more than half of the Sailors’ first team could be national team players (10 out of the 24 Lions in the last call-up were from the club), the current situation could place Singapore and the Sailors in a highly disadvantageous position as compared to other Asean nations and clubs.”

The local football fraternity also expressed surprise over the Asean Cup’s dates as the last two editions were from December to January. AFC had also announced its club competition calendar in July 2023.

Former Lion R. Sasikumar, chief executive officer of D+1 Sports which specialises in sports business development, said: “It is not a good look because the Asean Cup is like a mini-World Cup for teams in the region and fans expect the best players to be participating.

“If the best players don’t play in the AFF tournament, obviously it is going to lose its shine and value, not only from the sporting side, but also from the commercial side.”

In response to The Sunday Times’ queries, an AFF spokesman said it settled on the tournament dates after consultation with its member associations and considered “the congested schedule of domestic and international competitions”.

However, Football Association of Singapore general secretary Yazeen Buhari shared that “the AFF Championship tournament dates are ultimately decided at AFF’s sole discretion and have always been held during a non-Fifa window”.

He added: “This inevitably presents unique challenges to participating teams – especially as more players move to play abroad and as more clubs participate in regional tournaments, including the AFC competitions which have also revised their calendar.

“We will continue to work with clubs on mutually beneficial arrangements.”