Frustrated social footballers start petition calling for ‘fair access’ to public fields

SINGAPORE – Frustrated at being unable to book a public football field on weekends, recreational footballer Chan Zhi Yang has taken to online petition platform change.org to appeal to Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo to “give amateur footballers fair access to ActiveSG pitches”.

He noted that since national sports agency Sport Singapore (SportSG) changed its sports facility booking system from a first-come, first-serve basis to a

ballot format called MyActiveSG+ in June 2024

, it has been “nearly impossible” for weekend warriors to secure pitches to play on.

In his petition, which began on Sept 20 and has since garnered more than 2,360 signatures, Chan wrote: “For years, football has been the heartbeat of our weekends – a way for amateur players and teams to stay active, build friendships, and enjoy the sport we grew up with and love. However, the current booking system has made this nearly impossible.

“While the (previous) system had flaws, pitches were at least sometimes available. The bigger issue then was scalpers using bots to book out slots, reselling them at up to four times the price.”

He shared that teams have to pay as much as $250 to play a match, when the regular price of a field booking for a two-hour slot is around $50, and the market rate to hire a referee is $80.

Claiming that the new system has “worsened” the situation and “denied us this basic opportunity” to play football, Chan added: “Now, no pitches are available at all for booking or even for balloting on weekends, at times suitable for physical activity outdoors.

“It seems that fields are being allocated elsewhere, sometimes claimed by ActiveSG to be booked up by a ‘corporate booking’, leaving ordinary footballers completely locked out. Not even scalpers are offering pitches any more, because absolutely none are open for balloting.”

He urged the ministry to conduct a review of the ActiveSG booking system to “ensure transparency and accountability in how pitches are allocated” and introduce safeguards to ensure that the public can “have fair and equal access to public football facilities”.

Some amateur footballers The Straits Times spoke to were equally flummoxed.

Faizal Rasaq, a 39-year-old driver, said: “It has become more difficult to book fields. A few of us will try to ballot for a weekend slot, but more often than not, we will fail and have to book other commercial pitches which can cost $300 to $500 for two hours, which may be too pricey for some, even after splitting the costs among players from both teams.”

Currently, SportSG manages over 70 football fields under the Dual Use Scheme (DUS), an initiative where it partners with schools under the Ministry of Education to open their fields and other facilities for public use during weekends.

These 11-a-side fields cost between $37 and $65 for two-hour blocks, while there are also over 30 free-to-use fields, which are not regular-sized.

However, not all players have issues with the ballot system.

Digital products manager Daniel Chan feels that it actually gives him and his football mates “a much better chance of getting a field compared to the fastest-fingers-first system”.

The 39-year-old said: “My friends and I will chip in to ballot, and our success rate is actually quite high. If we don’t get lucky, we will then coordinate and compromise a bit in terms of location and timing to grab the leftover peak hour slots when they are released on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“This takes some effort and there’s a bit of inconvenience, but we don’t really mind as it means we don’t have to pay more for commercial fields, which can cost a few times more than ActiveSG fields.”

In response to queries, SportSG explained that the ballot system is implemented for peak-hour slots to “ensure equitable access, and curbs scripting and on-selling activities that were prevalent in the previous booking system and deprived the public of playing opportunities”.

It shared that the number of bookings for DUS fields has increased by approximately 30 per cent between 2023 and 2024. The utilisation of these fields has also been consistently high, averaging around 84 per cent over the last two years, with the majority used by the public for recreation and community programmes supporting children and youth development.

Its spokesman said: “Since the transition to MyActiveSG+, balloting has increased access as well as reduced scripting and instances of on-selling.

“Unique hirers for football fields have risen by 28 per cent, benefiting a more diverse group of users compared to the previous system, where it could be observed that specific groups and individuals had repeated access.”

SportSG acknowledged that there are circumstances that temporarily limit field availability. These include facility maintenance and upkeep to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for users, as well as necessary investigations due to irresponsible users who break rules by smoking, littering and damaging property.

It also highlighted its commitment to “providing a range of quality facilities and sporting programmes for our community... while ensuring an optimal use of spaces in land-scarce Singapore”.

“Our ongoing efforts include expanding the network of over 370 school sport facilities, including free-to-play fields and indoor halls, which are part of the DUS; extending booking times beyond weekends for DUS facilities; and exploring opportunities to open up fields for public use in more locations such as institutes of higher learning,” added the agency’s spokesman.

“Apart from offerings under our ActiveSG Football Academy, SportSG also works with partners to create more opportunities for the community to play football, such as through private and public football leagues.”

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