FAS introduces ‘enhancements’ to SPL, with increase in prize money and foreign player quota

The Lion City Sailors received $150,000 for winning the 2024-25 Singapore Premier League. But next season, the champions will earn $200,000.

SINGAPORE – The total prize money for the Singapore Premier League (SPL) will be more than doubled from $290,000 to $600,000, while clubs will be able to field up to seven foreigners per match – an increase from six – as part of a slew of changes aimed at enhancing the competitiveness and standard of the domestic league.

In a July 2 media statement announcing the changes, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) also said that the SPL will become an eight-team competition for the 2025-26 season following the departure of Brunei DPMM, while a new reserve league called SPL2 will be introduced.

In the new season, the league champions will receive $200,000 – up from the $150,000 that the Lion City Sailors pocketed for clinching the 2024-25 title. The second-placed team will earn $150,000 (up from $80,000), the third-placed team will receive $100,000 (up from $40,000), while the side who finish fourth will get $70,000 (up from $20,000).

Last season, prize money was given only to the top four sides. But teams in fifth and sixth will get $50,000 and $30,000 respectively next term as a performance incentive for mid-table sides.

In another move to raise the SPL’s competitiveness, clubs will also be able to field up to seven foreign players on the pitch at any one time.

This is the highest number of imports in the domestic professional league since it was launched in 1996, and comes after the Malaysia Super League (MSL) had made a similar move.

In May, it was announced that MSL teams can register a maximum of 15 imports (up from 10) in their squad next season, with up to seven of them starting and two on the bench on match day, an increase of one in both categories.

In Indonesia’s Liga 1, a maximum of eight foreigners may be registered, while only six may play at any one time.

To ensure Singaporean players continue to get sufficient playing time, the new SPL2 reserve league will be introduced to replace the current SPL Under-21 competition.

Clubs must now register a combined squad for both the SPL and SPL2, with a minimum of 36 and a maximum of 50 players. A t least 25 of them must be Singaporeans .

This means that clubs registering 36 players may include up to 11 foreigners, with no limitations on nationality or age.

The recently concluded 2024-25 season saw clubs being allowed to field up to six foreign players (including one from an AFC member association and one Under-21 player) per match . They were also allowed to register a maximum of nine foreigners of whom at least one had to be from an AFC member association and three Under-21 players.

Football commentator and former SPL coach Khidhir Khamis said he felt “mixed” about the changes and called the increase in foreign quota a double-edged sword.

He said that the move to increase the foreign quota is good for the competitiveness of clubs like Sailors and BG Tampines Rovers who will take part in continental and regional competitions, but it would affect playing time for locals.

“There might not be enough exposure for some national team players. We won’t know the effects in the short term yet. But we do have overseas-based players so that will cushion the impact but it also means that we must double-up and focus on youth development so that in the future, we have enough quality local players coming through,” said Khidhir, who added that the foreign quota should decrease in the years ahead as the youth system starts to feed more talented local players.

FAS said the SPL2 will serve as “a developmental yet competitive league that works in tandem with the SPL” and expands “the base of competitive opportunities while keeping quality and progression at the forefront”.

The aim is to provide a structured platform for emerging talent to compete in a high-performance setting and establish a clear link between development and first-team football, with squads integrated across both competitions, it added.

While first-team players and foreigners are allowed to play in the reserve league to ensure they get sufficient playing time, a minimum of six locals, four of whom must be Under-23, must be on the pitch at all times during matches.

Former SPL player and coach A. Shasi Kumar expressed support for SPL2 and hopes it will raise the competitive level of locals.

He said: “In 1997 when I was playing, every team had a squad of 30 players including foreigners. And in midweek, the rest who were not in the squad and those who did not (play) on the weekend had to play in the reserve league. So every week, players got game time... and the players will fight (for places) and it kept everyone on their toes to get into the squad for the weekend.”

SPL2 matches will take place between Mondays and Wednesdays, while SPL fixtures will be played from Fridays to Mondays, with kick-off at 7.30pm to support consistent fan engagement. In recent seasons, weekend matches were played at 6pm, while weekday ties kicked off at 7.45pm.

The Community Shield match on Aug 16 featuring the Sailors and Tampines will be the curtain raiser to the 2025-26 SPL season, which will kick off on Aug 23 and be played in a triple round-robin format. With eight teams, this means each side will play 21 matches.

While national agency Sport Singapore and FAS launched a request for proposal in February in a bid to expand the SPL, the SPL will not see the addition of a new club for the upcoming season. ST understands that Tengah FC and Malaysia Super League’s Selangor FC, who had intended to send their B team here, had put in applications.

In its media statement, the FAS added that all these changes were formulated following discussions with SPL club chairmen, who reached a collective agreement to proceed with implementation for the 2025-26 season.

It added that the set of refinements to the SPL and the introduction of SPL2 reflect an “ongoing commitment to the holistic development of Singapore football. By focusing on structured competition, appropriate player progression, and targeted investments in quality, these measures aim to strengthen the league’s foundation while supporting the long-term growth of the national team.”

Click here to read article