The mother of all festivals at Sports Hub
Sports Hub Festival Of Football from June 14 to July 30 will include World Cup live telecasts and the ICC
Football fanatics will be able to catch the action in the World Cup in Russia from June 14 to July 15 for free when it is screened live at the OCBC Square.
As part of the Singapore Sports Hub Festival of Football, most matches - including all knockout-stage games and the final - will be shown on a 66 sq m LED screen.
This is just one of many activities in the June 14 to July 30 festival, which was launched yesterday at a media briefing at the Sports Hub's Visitors Centre.
The festival is supported by Sport Singapore (SportSG), International Champions Cup (ICC), Singapore Tourism Board, Football Association of Singapore (FAS) and National Youth Council in the hope of rejuvenating and developing the local football scene.
It will be held in conjunction with the SportSG's Singapore Football Festival, which was known as Singapore Football Week last year.
Apart from live screenings of the World Cup, the festival also has a multitude of football-related activities lined up over the six weeks.
Football fans can catch Singapore Premier League sides in action with two fixtures played at the National Stadium.
They will also get the chance to meet players from the Young Lions and Home United.
For those looking to get directly involved in the action, there will be mini-tournaments, friendlies and football clinics held at a mini-football cage at the entrance of the OCBC Square.
Still in line with the football-theme, there will be a football trail and World Cup match balls on show at the Singapore Sports Museum.
Members of the public can also engage in other sports and fitness activities at the Sports Hub Community Play Day, where they can try out activities like Glow DanceJam and Sunset Yoga.
Other less physical activities include lunchtime movie screenings and storytelling sessions.
The highly anticipated ICC will wrap up the festival that will see Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid pit against one another at the National Stadium.
Sports Hub CEO Oon Jin Teik believes that the festival can give Singapore's football landscape a much-needed fillip.
He said: "We hope that it would be the mother of all festivals and events.
"Singapore football needs a boost where you can bring Singapore football back to the glory days of Fandi and the gang.
NOT FOR SHOW
"They deserve it, they want it, so this kind of support is not for show.
"It's very important for us to push this national sport and align it with the direction that SportSG is going."
Acting FAS general secretary Yazeen Buhari added: "As part of our renewed vision to be more collaborative, engaging and inclusive, we are grateful to be partnering key stakeholders such as the Singapore Sports Hub and Sport Singapore to increase the programming in the football ecosystem in Singapore.
"The heightened programming will go a long way in boosting interest in the sport, which only bodes well for football in Singapore - not only in the long-term, but also as we build towards the year-end 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup."
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