After the 1986 tournament, four Canadian players (Igor Vrablic, Hector Marinaro, David Norman and Chris Chueden) were suspended after a match-fixing scandal.

In early 2015, MP & Silva and FAS managed to secure a six-year partnership worth S$25 million.

MP & Silva planned to organise the tournament slated in January 2016 at the 55,000-seater National Stadium.

[2] However, in late 2015, after six months of negotiations, it was announced that negotiation to use the National Stadium as the venue of the Merlion Cup was stalled due to the Singapore Sports Hub demanding an upfront payment reportedly a six-digit figure to rent the stadium as the venue of two editions of the tournament in 2016 and 2017.

This led the organisers to find an alternative venue and also considered holding the tournament in Malaysia.