Cardiff City footballer Perry Ng applying for Singapore citizenship via Foreign Sports Talent Scheme

SINGAPORE: Cardiff City footballer Perry Ng is in the process of applying for Singapore citizenship via the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme (FST), Football Association of Singapore (FAS) general secretary Chew Chun-Liang said on Thursday (Feb 6). 

Speaking to reporters during a briefing at Jalan Besar Stadium, Mr Chew said that the FAS is supporting Ng’s application and will wait for the authorities' decision.

“The first step is to make sure that he gets his PR (permanent residency) first before he gets his citizenship and can represent Singapore,” added Mr Chew, who was appointed FAS general secretary in November last year.

“FAS is exploring the opportunity, to consider Perry Ng under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme, with the relevant agencies," FAS said in a subsequent statement. 

Under the scheme, Singapore has naturalised athletes who were not born here or have ancestral links to the country.

If successful, Ng will become the first footballer to attain Singapore citizenship under the FST since China-born Qiu Li in 2010.

Before Qiu, other footballers who took up citizenship via the FST included Agu Casmir, Mustafic Fahrudin and Shi Jiayi.

In more recent times, Lion City Sailors’ Song Ui-young and BG Tampines Rovers’ Kyoga Nakamura were naturalised after meeting FIFA’s five-year residency requirement.

Under FIFA rules, 28-year-old Ng is eligible to play for Singapore via his late paternal grandfather James, who was born here, but later moved to Liverpool.

However, under Singapore citizenship rules, he can only qualify for a passport by descent if at least one parent was born in the country or is a citizen by registration.

The defender penned a deal last year that will keep him at Cardiff City until 2026. He has been Cardiff City’s player of the season for two years running.

The Bluebirds are 19th in the 24-team Championship, the second tier of English football. Ng has made 23 appearances for the team in the league this season.

He was invited by the FAS to take part in a "familiarisation stint" with the Lions in September last year.

Mr Chew said Ng is "quite well-connected” to the country and said he expects the 28-year-old to be back in Singapore to train with the national team during next month’s FIFA international window.

“Every opportunity that we have to have Perry back in Singapore, we will bring him back,” added Mr Chew.

“And every opportunity he says that he can come back to Singapore, he will.”

At the same time, Mr Chew said that naturalisation is not the “main option” to bring players into the national team, but footballing authorities will do so when the opportunity arises. 

AIMING FOR ASIAN CUP QUALIFICATION

Singapore men’s national team has been grouped with Hong Kong, India, and Bangladesh in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 Asian Cup. There are six groups.

The group winners will advance to the tournament and join the 18 teams that have already qualified.

India is the top-ranked team in the group, at 126th in the FIFA rankings. Hong Kong is ranked 155th, Singapore is 160th, and Bangladesh is 185th.

The only Southeast Asian team to make the cut for the 2027 Asian Cup so far is Indonesia.

The Lions are coming off the back of a creditable ASEAN Championship campaign where they reached the tournament semifinals before being eliminated by eventual champions Vietnam. 

Mr Chew described the other teams in the group as “beatable”, adding that the target will be for the Lions to top the group and qualify for the Asian Cup.

“I think this is something achievable, with the leadership of coach (Tsutomu) Ogura. And I think this is something that we believe ... we can work towards,” he said.

Singapore last participated in the Asian Cup in 1984 when they hosted the tournament, but have never qualified outright for the tournament.

Coach Ogura added that it would be a difficult task but the team must “challenge” to do it.

"For me (what) is important is the process. One thing is sure, I don't want to change my approach from last year to this year," he said.

The Lions will kick off the campaign with a home match against Hong Kong on Mar 25.