Aleksandar Duric to become deputy head of Singapore delegation at Asian Games
In Singapore, former national team footballer Aleksandar Duric is preparing to become one of two deputy heads of the Team Singapore delegation at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan. According to Channel NewsAsia, 56-year-old Duric believes that his experience as an athlete will help him support competition participants before important events, including calming them down and helping them focus.
This role will be another stage in his sporting journey, which has lasted for more than four decades. Duric was born in 1970 and grew up in Doboj, a city in the former Yugoslavia that is now located in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
From kayaking to football
As a child, he collected bottles, paper and metal to help his family earn money. At the age of 12, Duric began kayaking and achieved success in the sport.
During the conflict in his homeland, he was in Hungary and could not return home. In 1992, Duric competed at the Olympic Games in Barcelona as part of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. According to him, he hitchhiked to Barcelona and also lacked proper training conditions and equipment.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Career in Singapore
After playing in Europe, Australia and China, Duric continued his career in Singapore. There, he became a striker, although he had not previously played in that position. Over 15 years in Singaporean football, he won eight top-division titles and three Singapore Cups, and was also named Player of the Year three times.
In 2007, Duric became a Singapore citizen and made his national team debut at the age of 37 in a World Cup qualifying match against Tajikistan. He scored two goals, and Singapore won 2:0. Later, Duric became the first person born in another country to lead the Singapore national team onto the field as captain, and in 2012 he helped the team win the AFF Suzuki Cup.
After ending his professional career in 2014, he has worked with young footballers. Over the past decade, Duric has been the head of the ActiveSG Football Academy: the number of its participants has grown from 500 children at five centres in 2016 to more than 4,000 at 17 centres. This year, the academy also opened girls-only programmes at two centres.
