Sport in Singapore

Singaporeans participate in a wide variety of sports for recreation as well as for competition. Popular sports include football, swimming, track and field, basketball, rugby union, badminton, table tennis, and cycling. Many public residential areas provide amenities like swimming pools, outdoor spaces (i.e. street football and basketball courts, running tracks)^[1] and indoor sport centres, with facilities for badminton, table tennis, squash among others.

As an island city-state, Singapore is surrounded by waters thus, many Singaporeans also enjoy water sports like swimming, water polo, sailing, kayaking, rowing and waterskiing. There is also a number of avid recreational scuba divers, a prominent diving spot being the southern island of Pulau Hantu, famous for its coral reefs.

Although Singapore does not have a de jure national sport, football is arguably the most popular spectator sport in Singapore. Singapore has its own professional football league, known as the Singapore Premier League (formerly known as S. League). Launched in 1996, it consists of nine teams competing against one another, with one based in Brunei, as of 2023^[update]. Since 2019, all eight teams in Singapore shared their home stadiums with one other team, which are mostly located in heartland towns. In 1998, 2004, 2007 and 2012, the Singapore national football team were champions in the AFF Championship, the premier football competition in Southeast Asia.

Singapore athletes have performed well in both regional and international competitions, mainly in swimming, badminton, table tennis, bowling, sailing, water polo, sepak takraw, and silat. To date, Singapore has won a total of one gold, two silver and two bronze Olympic medals. Singapore has also amassed a total of 41 gold, 59 silver and 117 bronze medals at the Asian Games.