SINGAPORE – Football fans will have to wait for at least another season to welcome a 10th football club to the Singapore Premier League (SPL).

Ahead of the 2024-25 season, talk among the fraternity was that a new side, Tengah FC, was set to join the league, particularly after they announced on social media in February that the team had received an in-principle approval from the Football Association of Singapore (FAS).

However, in a media statement on April 3, FAS said it has finished evaluating potential clubs for the 2024/2025 SPL season and while one club was given in-principle approval to participate in the upcoming campaign, the shortlisted club was entered into a “a due diligence process, which took longer than expected”.

It added: “Given the tight deadline prior to the commencement of the SPL in May 2024, the club has decided not to contest the 2024/25 season. Instead, it will focus on getting a team ready for the 2025/26 season.”

Tengah FC chairman Louis Amalorpavanathan told The Straits Times that it was a “difficult decision to take”.

He added: “The process... took longer than expected. It’s been a while since a new club was admitted into the SPL so I think both us and FAS learned a lot from the exercise.

“But rather than rush to kick off only a month away, we felt it would be the more responsible thing...