The demand and availability of foreign imports in the market have provided local clubs the ability to strengthen and stay competitive particularly in the Brunei Super League (BSL).
The country’s football top tier has attracted a slew of foreign imports this season in what is a sign that the league is slowly gaining interest from players with international experience.
The national league reached a new milestone this season as a record of eight local clubs fielded foreign players from both the region and beyond.
Hence, this season boasts the highest number of foreign imports and quite easily since its establishment in 2012.
Such popular practice has been commonly used in the past with league powerhouses Indera SC and Kota Ranger FC leading the way with marquee signings.
Following MS ABDB’s dominance in recent years, Indera SC popularised the trend of making foreign signings following the acquisition of Samson Kella Emmanuel, Liberia’s Leon Sullivan Taylor and Nigeria’s Micheal Henry.
Similarly, Kasuka FC have also strengthened their squad through the signing of Ghana’s Samuel Kojo Abbey and Yapo Adja Kimou Franck Allwin.
Indeed, the start of the 2020s indicates that these clubs are stepping up with their efforts towards displacing the dominant army personnel.
Both Kasuka and Kota Rangers challenged for the title while two-time winners Indera SC have been involved in numerous title races over the years.
The arrival of these new players were however interrupted by the cancellation of the league season following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whilst foreign players are not relatively new in the country as former league outfit QAF FC has previously added to their ranks, Indera SC made a major signing after welcoming former DPMM FC man Rodrigo Tosi to their side.
The signing was pivotal in their quest to qualify for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup for the first time in their history.
The match between Indera SC and Kasuka FC in March 2020 provided spectators a glimpse of the foreign players playing for both teams rather than just one.
Indera have been one of the busiest in the transfer market having also acquired the services of Nigeria’s Kingsley Nkurumeh and Malaysian goalkeeper Tekson Tubeng.
In the 2020 season which kicked off on January 28, six clubs introduced foreign players to their squad including Setia Perdana who had Indonesian duo Rijal Ruwloh and Yudi Setiawandi. – Fadhil Yunus
