SINGAPORE — For the sake of Singapore football, make it work.

That is the rallying cry from Singapore’s ex-internationals, who have expressed their disappointment at the news that plans to stage the Merlion Cup, a football tournament which they looked forward to during their playing days, may be scrapped because of a breakdown in negotiations between organiser MP & Silva and the Singapore Sports Hub.

TODAY reported today (Nov 13) that the invitational tournament, which was last held in 2009 when Singapore played against English Premier League giants Liverpool, was thrown into jeopardy because of disagreements between the two parties over the terms of use of the 55,000-capacity National Stadium. If the impasse continues, there is a chance that MP & Silva will scrap the event or hold it in a neighbouring country.

Former internationals Terry Pathmanathan and Alesksandar Duric, who played in the 1985 and 2009 editions of the Merlion Cup respectively, think that losing the event would be another wasted chance for the Singapore national team to catch up with the rest of Asia in their standard of play.

The Merlion Cup was discontinued after the 2009 edition. A year later, the old National Stadium was torn down to make way for the new venue.

“We must have the tournament back. If you look at Malaysia, they have the Merdeka Cup, and Thailand have their own King’s Cup,” said Pathmanathan, 59, who captained the Lions at the 1985 edition where the Republic finished as joint champions with the Yugoslav Olympic team. “We have our own Lion City Cup which is good for the youths. But it is also important to have our own international tournament for the seniors as a main fixture in our footballing calendar.

“There have been a lot of talks about our local football having to raise its standard of play, and the Merlion Cup is the best chance.

“Every party involved in the organisation of this tournament will have to make a conscious effort to make this work, and bring it back again. They have to have the same vision for Singapore sports.”

Duric, 45, could still recall the challenge of playing Liverpool back in 2009, as he added: “It was a great challenge playing against Liverpool. They have many World Cup players and Champions League winners in that team too.

“Our players play against a lot of South-east Asian teams recently, but that is not enough. The Merlion Cup will enable them to experience the different styles of football from Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. We lost to Japan on Thursday because we couldn’t handle their play.”

Following Thursday’s 3-0 World Cup qualifying defeat by Japan, Singapore national coach Bernd Stange said the Lions need more international exposure and experience in order to improve.

“I am very happy we have the opportunity to play a team like Japan. But this is something we will have to work on: Getting more matches against good international teams. It’s not enough to play in the Malaysian league alone,” said the German.

While Duric feels that it will not make a big difference if the Merlion Cup were to be hosted at a neighbouring country, former Singapore defender Razali Saad rues having a home-grown tournament taken away from Singapore.

“The tournament is called the Merlion Cup. The name itself implies that it’s Singapore’s tournament, so having it overseas completely defeats the purpose,” said the former Lions captain. “I would rather have it cancelled, than for it to be played in Malaysia. This is a football tournament by Singapore, for Singapore, in Singapore.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY NOAH TAN

WHAT THE SNAG IS

- Last month, TODAY reported that MP & Silva was planning to bring back the Merlion Cup after a seven-year absence. They have also lined up the Singapore national team, Myanmar’s national side, Chinese outfit Shanghai Shenhua and J-League club Yokohama F Marinos for the invitational, which is scheduled to be held at the end of January 2016.

- However, with the event barely two months away, TODAY has learnt that negotiations between MP & Silva and the Sports Hub have stalled over the use of the 55,000-seater National Stadium.

- The deadlock came after the Sports Hub had demanded an upfront payment — believed to be a six-figure sum — for the rental of the venue, not just for next year’s event but also for the 2017 tournament. According to industry experts, an upfront payment of two years is not general practice.