Singapore Premier League 2023 season to kick off Feb 19

The 2023 Singapore Premier League season will kick off on Feb 19 and conclude end-August, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced on Friday (Jan 27). 

The new season will feature the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology after the FAS were given green light to utilise VAR after passing a final assessment by FIFA. This comes after an implementation process that began in February last year, which included visits by relevant FIFA personnel and regular VAR training for local match officials. 

The 28th edition of the professional league will also see the return of former champions Brunei DPMM. The Bruenians sat out the league in the last two seasons after withdrawing midway through the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The team will continue to be based in Bandar Seri Begawan, but will play their first three home matches at the Jalan Besar Stadium as the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium is currently undergoing major renovation works. 

With nine clubs to take part in the 2023 season, the FAS has made the decision to revert to a triple round-robin format instead of retaining last season’s quadruple one. 

Each team will now play 24 league matches, including 12 home and 12 away matches. 

Matches will primarily be played between Friday and Sunday. Weekend matches will now kick-off at 6pm. 

Games will be broadcasted live on Singtel TV and Starhub TV. It will also be live-streamed online via the SPL YouTube channel. 

For the 2023 season, three SPL clubs will be based at different home venues. 

The Lion City Sailors and Balestier Khalsa will move back to Bishan Stadium, after completion of upgrading works at the venue

Hougang United will shift back to Jalan Besar Stadium, and share it with the Young Lions. 

The allocation of stadiums to clubs for the new season is “based on the availability of the ActiveSG fields and after consultation with Sport Singapore”, said the FAS. 

The 2023 season will see a rule change for the Young Lions, which will be allowed to register between 20 and 40 players, including three foreign or overaged Singaproean players.

The Singapore Cup will be played from September to mid-December, with all SPL clubs apart from the Young Lions participating.