Find out why the local talent pipeline has failed for now.

Synopsis: Every fourth Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times dives into a sports topic and tackles the hard questions with its guests on Hard Tackle.

In the first episode of a brand new spin-off series called Hard Tackle, ST Sports reporter Deepanraj Ganesan is joined by former Singapore national team centreback R Sasikumar and Singapore football commentator Zia-ul Raushan to debate the ever controversial topic of whether Singapore football needs foreign talents. 

On Feb 25, the Young Lions get their 2023 Singapore Premier League (SPL) season underway against defending champions Albirex Niigata and for the first time since 2016, the Young Lions will have foreign players in the squad with the addition of Japanese defender Jun Kobayashi and midfielder Kan Kobayashi.

With the Football Association of Singapore looking to revisit the Foreign Talent Scheme, we ask if it’s really what Singapore football needs to fix the larger picture.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:50 The root cause of having to rely on foreigners 

5:20 Who is to blame for the dearth of local talent; does Singapore football need foreign talent?

8:30 Is using naturalised players just a short-term fix?

19:00 The strategy behind Young Lions signing Japanese players for the 2023 SPL season

25:30 Is there a way we can get players with Singaporean heritage to play for the national team? 

Read more: https://str.sg/wvu6

Produced by: Deepanraj Ganesan ([email protected]), Ernest Luis & Eden Soh

Edited by: Eden Soh

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Read Deepan's articles: https://www.straitstimes.com/authors/deepanraj-ganesan

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