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

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 last year penned a deal 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 are 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 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.

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