Callum Bingham

Callum Bingham (born 2007) is a Matabese-born Dauian professional football player who plays as a defender and captain for Daau Super League side Cheetahs XII.

Early life

Born in Matabese to Dauian parents, Callum was schooled at the Matabese International Institute till he was 13 before moving to Daau with his parents due to work relocation. Callum started his youth career properly with Jurong West in 2020 before moving back to Mataba with Pahmer FC's youth setup in 2022 and successfully joining Cheetahs XII's youth setup later in July that year.

Senior career

Cheetahs XII

Bingham signed his scholarship contract aged 15 due to his immense potential with Liga Mataba side Cheetahs XII and was named club captain as his maturity allowed him to standout on the pitch despite his young age. He made his first start against Pahmer FC in the league and was able to net his first professional goal days later against Sultan FC. His nimble playstyle and quick vision to thread passes made him a mainstay in the team and was able to contribute to the team's high league position and saw his contract extended till the end of the 2024-25 season. He would continue to captain the team throughout their maiden Daau Super League campaign in 2023 and was named as one of the league's top youngsters despite his low goalscoring involvement as he would play more deep in midfield to linkup plays. The 2024–25 season saw him rise up the assist leaderboard with his team as they looked to challenge the title oncemore. Callum also won the 2024 Daau SuperShield as captain of Cheetahs XII.

Rumours soon surfaced regarding the playmaker earning a move overseas.

International career

Callum represented the Matabese Regional Under-15's XI in the 2020 Return Cup Final and was said he would be delighted to represent Mataba one day. However in 2024, following rumours of him denying callups to the Mataba national football team, it was confirmed that Callum had switched nationality to Daau following him fullfilling the residence period of 5 years and having Dauian roots in his family. He was called up to the Daau under-21's squad for centralized training in January 2025.

Controversy

As his rash decision to switch to Daau due to a more lucrative offer and being able to play as a local player in the star-studded Daau Super League wasn't as well received by Matabese fans in comparison to Dauian casuals, Bingham suffered online hatespeech from fans on Tweeter, FaceNet and Kotify as the Matabese side criticized him for giving the Matabese fans a false hope in their footballing future and called him a traitor for his move to Daau. This however isn't the first time the Daau Football Association has done such switchings though, as Marc Kjuiper-Fanta and Anthony Chong were also convinced by DAFA to give up their Matabese passports and declare for Daau, leading to immense backlash on the DAFA social media page and MFF ramping up efforts to get Matabese players in Daau to declare for Mataba.