Singapore’s first mixed gender futsal tournament kicks off Oct 26, with rules set to 'protect female players'

For the first time in local futsal, men and women will play alongside each other in a formal tournament, the D2D Mixed 5s, happening from Oct 26 to Jan 18, 2024, at Kickoff! Kovan. 

A total of six teams, each comprising men and women, have so far signed up for the mixed gender futsal tournament, according to Rasvinder Singh, executive director of D2D Sports, one of Singapore’s biggest amateur sporting event organisers. 

Among the players, 40 are men and 25 are women. 

There will be one referee a week in the three-month-long tournament, all of them men. “We don’t know of any female referees outside of the Football Association of Singapore,” Rasvinder told CNA Women.

To ensure and encourage fair play, the following rules have been set, said D2D Sports representative Rasvinder Singh:

“We were already thinking about doing a mixed gender concept in 2011 when we first started organising the women’s five-a-side league, but the plan was placed on the backburner. 

“We’re revisiting this plan now as part of efforts to expand our offerings, but also, I’d noticed how, after a recent tournament, there were already mixed teams playing casually with each other.

“This is a good opportunity to get them to play together in an organised setting,” he added.

“We also hope that this league gives players a chance to play in an environment that is less tense. The emphasis is on playing football and enjoying themselves, alongside members of the opposite sex who are either related to them, or are their partners and friends,” he said. 

It was a challenge, Rasvinder said, putting together teams for a league “that is so niche and doesn’t offer cash prizes”. 

Additionally, all players were initially expected to wear non-studded shoes to ensure their own safety