THE (NEW) MERLION CUP IN JUNE ...

The new Merlion Cup trophy was unveiled by the members of the FAS Council

It was mere formality earlier this afternoon at the Jalan Besar Stadium (JBS) to confirm the revival of the Merlion Cup tournament this coming June following news of its coming back being broke by Fox Sports Asia weeks ago.

Back in late April, the online portal first reported the Philippines U22 side will be taking part in the mentioned tournament and posted another update days ago that revealed the dates and venue of the quadrangular which will be taking place on 7th and 9th June at the JBS.

Former Lions skipper Terry Pathmanathan (second from left) shares his Merlion Cup experiences

In a draw that was conducted during the press conference at JBS VIP Lounge, the fate of the four participating teams namely - the U22 sides of Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines were made known.

THE FORMAT ...
The first day (7th June) of the tournament will see Thailand vs Indonesia in the first match with the Philippines taking on hosts Singapore in the second match that follows.

The winning teams of both matches will meet in the final on the 9th June, the third fourth placing match featuring the losing sides will take place before the final on the same day at the JBS.

The outcome of the draw of this tournament

"NEW" TROPHY UNVEILED
The press conference also saw the unveiling of the trophy to be awarded to the winning side of the revived tournament, it was the same trophy used in the 2009 one-off match between the Singapore National Team and English Premier League side Liverpool FC at the old National Stadium.

This trophy was hoisted by Jamie Carragher in 2009

This was revealed to this platform by Football Association of Singapore (FAS) in reply to queries forwarded to check on the status of the original trophy which was insured for $30,000, as reported by the now-defunct Singapore Monitor back in 3rd December 1983.

“The trophy design which was unveiled on Wednesday (15th May), is the same as the one that was lifted when the tournament was held in 2009. The previous trophy was decommissioned, hence the new design which will be used for the upcoming as well as subsequent tournaments.” said a FAS spokesman in an email reply.

NOT AT KALLANG ...
Interestingly, the tournament will not be staged at the iconic National Stadium of the Singapore Sports Hub despite the three-year MOU inked last year between FAS and SportsHub Pte Ltd.

Earlier attempt to revive the tournament, which was first held in 1982, hit a snag after a breakdown in negotiation between MP & Silva, the then FAS commercial partners and SportsHub Pte Ltd back in 2015.