Lion City Sailors to play friendly against Borussia Dortmund in late November

This story was updated on Wednesday (Sep 14) to reflect the Lion City Sailors’ announcement on the friendly with Borussia Dortmund. 

Top tier German football club Borussia Dortmund will play a friendly in Singapore against Lion City Sailors in late November, announced the Singapore Premier League champions on Wednesday (Sep 14).

The friendly will be part of Dortmund’s Southeast Asia tour from Nov 21 to Dec 1. The eight-time German champions will also visit Indonesia and Vietnam, where they will take on a local team each as well.

However, World Cup-bound stars like Thorgan Hazard and Marco Reus will not feature, as this mid-season tour coincides with the quadrennial tournament held in Qatar from Nov 20 to Dec 18.

Dortmund’s managing director Carsten Cramer said that it is a “great pleasure” for the club to be able to be guests to their fans and partners in Southeast Asia again, after an “agonisingly long period of restrictions” during the pandemic.

“We have felt very welcome in the region for many years and cannot wait to personally thank the people for their passion, but also for their patience,” he said via the club’s website on Monday.

Lion City Sailors added in a Facebook post on Wednesday that more details will be announced later this month.

Dortmund last visited Singapore in 2015 as part of their Asia pre-season tour, where they held training and meet-and-greet sessions for the local fans. The club also has an office in Singapore.

In 2021, the Football Association of Singapore and Sport Singapore announced a strategic partnership with the German club, as part of the local Unleash the Roar! project.

The collaboration will see Dortmund provide expertise in areas of youth development, coach development and sports science, as well as help secure overseas stints for the brightest Singaporean talents.