FAS Elections: Winning office is just the first step

SINGAPORE - Brexit, Trump and perhaps Le Pen: we are in the era of national elections with a global impact, ones that upset the established order with the voters demanding a departure from the status quo.

In football too, there has been a reaction against the establishments that have run the sport for years and not always for the benefit of the Beautiful Game.

From world governing body FIFA to the region that is South-east Asia, there are new hands at the helm. On Saturday (April 29), the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) gets in on the act and holds a first election in 125 years.

It is the third major football vote in this region in the space of just over 12 months. In February 2016, the long-term and controversial tenure of Worawi Makudi as the boss of Football Association of Thailand was officially ended.

Somyot Poompanmuong promised transparency and end to the corruption scandals of the Worawi years. The former police chief spearheaded a coalition of interests in Thai football - retail giants King Power, most clubs and fans, and the government - who wanted change. The jury is still out as to whether he has, or will, deliver, but the message was clear.

Malaysia too. Just last month, the election to be president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) did not go ahead in the end as Tan Sri Annuar Musa, a politician who also heads the Kelantan FA, withdrew.

That left the Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan (TMJ) to take the hotseat. Another royal getting involved with FAM may not sound like a revolution but ever since TMJ took control of Johor Darul Ta’zim in 2013, the team has become the best in Malaysia and one of the best in South-east Asia, on and off the pitch.

A long-standing critic of FAM, the prince at least had the courage to step forward and take the job. Things are changing now across the Causeway and while there are sure to be, and already have been mis-steps, there is a lot more energy. Going forward, there should be a more competent and forward-thinking administration.

On Saturday, it is Singapore’s turn.

In a country where the FAS occupies too many inches of the sports pages (a common situation with many newspapers in Asia), this first vote was always going to make headlines.

On the face of it, the two teams seemingly offer the stark contrast that has become the norm in recent elections: more of the same, or something else.

That was obviously the motive behind naming Bill Ng’s side, Team Game Changers. It was a not so subtle attempt to align itself with the global zeitgeist.

It was understandable given the nature of the opposition. Team LKT, is led by former FAS vice-president. Lim Kia Tong. They look like the establishment, sound like the establishment and smell like the establishment.

In the United Kingdom and the United States of late, this has been enough to ensure defeat. Ng’s attempt to seize the mantle of the upstart, the outsider and the anti-establishment member seemed to make sense, even if, like Donald Trump, it is not completely accurate.

Yet, there have been problems for the Hougang United owner.

The campaign has gone badly. When the self-proclaimed agents of change are being arrested, released on police bail, and talking of what happened to S$500,000 donations, it, at best, does not look good.

Also, real outsiders, not that Ng or his supporters are that, tend not to win in football. This is not a real democracy and the disaffected masses do not get a vote. The 44 affiliates casting theirs are a different kind of electorate.

This explains why new president Gianni Infantino has not been exactly been revolutionary after succeeding Sepp Blatter as president of FIFA. The focus has been more on money than ever and that helped him win the election last year.

In Thailand, the opposition candidate was the head of the Thai Police, a position that you do not occupy if you do not have close ties and support from the ruling elite. After years of Worawi Makudi in charge and his supporters still in powerful positions, Somyot needs powerful friends just to get anything done.

The new boss in Malaysia is a crown prince. Again, TMJ is not exactly a revolutionary looking to overthrow the ancient regime and bring democracy to the masses. But perhaps that is just the way it has to be in South-east Asian football at the moment.

That is the challenge for Team LKT. Can these supposed steady hands on the wheel perform a much-needed U-turn in Singapore football governance? If Team Game Changers win, can they do so with enough credibility and authority to even get started?

The media that has written so much about the election in recent weeks has a part to play in holding the new president and council to account. Fans have to be engaged and vigilant too.

Yet, the desire for real change has to come from the victors. Events in Thailand and especially Malaysia have shown that this is key.

Winning is the easy part: dealing with the aftermath of election victories, as we have seen in the past year in the UK and the US, is often much more challenging.

Whatever happens, Malaysia, and its new energy and drive, is the example for Singapore to follow.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

TODAY Sports’ guest columnist John Duerden has been based in Asia for almost 20 years and covers the continental football scene for The New York Times, BBC Radio, The Guardian, FourFourTwo and World Soccer magazine.