View source for Sporting Afrique FC

{{Infobox football club
| clubname = Sporting Afrique
| image = Sporting Afrique FC.png
| fullname = Sporting Afrique Football Club
| nickname = The Flamingos
| founded = 2006
| dissolved = 2007
| ground = [[Yishun Stadium]]<br>[[Yishun]], [[Singapore]]
| capacity = 3,400
| chairman = [[Collin Chee]]
| manager = R. Balasubramaniam
| league = [[Singapore Premier League|S.League]]
| season = [[2006 S.League|2006]]
| position = [[Singapore Premier League|S.League]], 9th of 11
}}

'''Sporting Afrique Football Club''' was a professional [[Football (soccer)|football]] club which played in [[Singapore]]'s [[S.League]] in 2006. The team was made of players from an [[African people|African]] descent. The squad consisted of young players from [[Nigeria]], [[Cameroon]], [[Kenya]] and [[Ghana]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rutherford |first1=Peter |title=Sporting gives Africans chance to shine in S'pore |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle-soccer-singapore-afrique-dc-idUKSP23133320061031 |access-date=27 September 2021 |agency=Reuters |date=19 January 2007 |language=en}}</ref> In allowing Sporting Afrique to join the league, the S.League hoped that their involvement would make the competition more exciting, and possibly unearth some good players who might be able to change their nationality to Singaporean and thus play for the [[Singapore national football team]] in the future.

== History ==
Sporting Afrique started off their debut [[2006 S.League]] season in a 2–1 win over [[Woodlands Wellington FC|Woodlands Wellington]] in their first home match at the sold-out crowd, [[Yishun Stadium]]. The stadium was packed of African continent supporters. The club finished in 9th place out of 11 teams in the S.League in the first and last season.

=== Controversies ===
Sporting Afrique were involved in a number of off-field controversies, and their application to participate in the S.League again in 2007 was rejected by the FAS.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tan |first1=Kenneth |title=Turning full circle: Family man Collin Chee opens up on abrupt departure from Singapore football and coming back with Dads for Life |url=http://www.junpiterfutbol.com/turning-full-circle-family-man-collin-chee-opens-up-on-abrupt-departure-from-singapore-football-and-coming-back-with-dads-for-life/ |website=JupiterFutbol |access-date=27 September 2021 |date=10 March 2019}}</ref> The club played its home games at the [[Yishun Stadium]].

In June 2006, it was reported that, while the players had been promised monthly salaries of S$1,600 (~US$1,000), they only received S$100 a month (~US$60), as S$700 was deducted for food (reportedly a monotonous diet of rice and chicken), and S$800 for accommodation despite all 22 team members living 5 or 6 per room in the same house in an area where a typical house rental was around S$3,000. They barely can go anywhere other than the stadium as they find travel is too expensive and their contracts also forbade talking to the media, but team members contacted the [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]] anonymously, drawing international attention. Club president [[Collin Chee]], who had initially claimed to be "not short-changing any of them", eventually backed down and agreed to raise their salaries to S$600, with performance bonuses and better housing.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hopes dashed in Singapore |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/5079434.stm |access-date=27 September 2021 |work=BBC Sports |date=14 June 2006}}</ref> It was revealed that one of the players, Jacques Ngo’o turned down a bribe of more than $5,000 ahead of an S-League match. Despite the attempted bribe  which amounted to several times the player monthly salary, the player's decision to displayed the honesty and integrity still show the good hearted among the African player's.<ref>[http://www.kenyafootball.com/index.php?doc=story&id=1207&categ=1 Thomas Biketi’s Sporting Afrique set to disband] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721033939/http://www.kenyafootball.com/index.php?doc=story&id=1207&categ=1|date=2011-07-21}}</ref>

==Seasons==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
!width="60" scope="col"|Season
!width="45" scope="col"|Pos
!width="30" scope="col"|P
!width="30" scope="col"|W
!width="30" scope="col"|D
!width="30" scope="col"|L
!width="30" scope="col"|F
!width="30" scope="col"|A
!width="30" scope="col"|Pts
!width="120" scope="col" scope="col" |[[Singapore Cup]]
|-
| [[2006 S.League|2006]]
| 9th
| 30 || 5 || 9 || 16 || 36 || 58 || 24
| Preliminary
|-
|}

==Notable players==

=== All the players that leave the club following the club dissolvement ===
'''{{Flag|Cameroon}}'''
* [[Kaze Teffo Etienne]] (He played for Singapore club, [[Balestier Khalsa FC|'''Balestier Khalsa''']] in 2007 and then play in USA and Hungary)
* [[Jacques Ngo'o]] (Played his career in Indonesia from 2008 to 2015)
* [[Christian Priso]] (Retired)

'''{{Flag|Ghana}}'''

* [[Frederick Addai]]  (Retired)
* [[Musah Ibrahim]]  (Retired)
	

'''{{Flag|Kenya}}'''
* [[Thomas Biketi]] (Played his career in Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Nepal)
* [[Harrison Muranda]] (Played his career in Maldives, Malaysia, Vietnam, India and Ethiopia)
* [[Nicholas Muyoti]] (Played his career in India from 2006 to 2008)
* [[Christopher Wekesa]] (Played his career in his native country)
	

'''{{Flag|Nigeria}}'''
* [[Udo Fortune]] (He played for Singapore club, [[Balestier Khalsa FC|'''Balestier Khalsa''']] in 2007 then play in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Israel and Malta)
* [[Lucky Diokpara]] (Played for Indonesia club, '''[[Persisko Merangin]]''' in 2013)
* [[Lukmon Anifaloyin]] (Played his career in Australia from 2008 to 2016)
* [[Peter Lipede]]  (Played his career in Indonesia from 2007 to 2014)
* [[Sergio Yaale]] (Played for Indonesia club, '''[[Persik Kediri]]''' in 2007)
* [[Obot Udoaka]] (He joined Singapore semi-professional club in the [[National Football League]], '''[[Admiralty FC]]''' in 2007)
* [[Julius Ejueyitsi]] (He joined Singapore semi-professional club in the [[National Football League]], '''[[Admiralty FC]]''' in 2007 then play in Malaysia and Myanmar)
* [[Michael Onyia]] (He joined Singapore semi-professional club in the [[National Football League]], [[Eunos Crescent FC|'''Eunos Crescent''']] in 2007 then play in Bangladesh)
* [[Segun Adebayo]]  (Retired)
* [[Agofure Churchill]]  (Retired)
* [[Kehinde Hussani Badmus]] (Retired)
* [[Ferdinand Nnodim]] (Retired)
* [[Ifesinachi Nwaigwe]] (Retired)
* [[Nwankwo Ogochukwu]] (Retired)
* [[Udorji Nzekwesi]] (Retired)
* [[Samuel Umoh]] (Retired)

'''{{Flag|Singapore}}'''

* [[Udo Fidelis Chika]] {{small|(originally of Nigerian nationality)}}

==Coach==
* {{flagicon|Singapore}} [[R. Balasubramaniam (football coach)|R. Balasubramaniam]] (2006&nbsp;– 2007)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Football in Singapore navbox}} 
{{S-League}}

[[Category:Foreign teams in Singapore football leagues]]
[[Category:Association football clubs established in 2006]]
[[Category:Singapore Premier League clubs]]