FAS refutes allegations of foul play in referee assessment

SINGAPORE – The refereeing department of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has hit back at suggestions of unprofessionalism within their ranks, after allegations surfaced online that they had asked a referee assessor to alter the grades he had awarded to a team of match officials.

These claims were made by freelance writer Suresh Nair in an article titled “FAS referee assessor quits after he’s told to change marks”, which was published on Malaysian sports website Sport 247 on June 24.

Mr Nair alleged that the assessor had resigned after being told to “change the marks” of the refereeing team that officiated the RHB Singapore Cup tie between Hougang United and Philippines Football League outfit Ceres Negros on June 22.

TODAY understands that both the FASRD and the assessor, who did not want to be named when he spoke with this newspaper, did indeed disagree over the grading of the match officials.

In particular, the FASRD did not think that the marks awarded tallied with the assessor’s match report.

Match officials are typically given a standard grade if there are no Key Match Incidents (KMI) logged in the report.

KMIs take into account the crucial errors, as well as instances of exceptionally commendable behaviour or decisions made by the match officials during the game.

TODAY understands that the assessor had awarded the match officials a grade that was lower than the standard, but the reasons for doing so were not reflected in the KMIs of his report.

The FASRD then contacted the assessor via email to clarify the issue, but the assessor thought that he was being told to alter the marks given.

It is understood that FAS’ head of referees K Viswa Nathan has since met up with the assessor to clear the air. Mr Nair had reported that the assessor has quit but the latter said he has not done so.

Responding to TODAY’s queries, the chairman of the FASRC Lim Tong Hai said: “The role of assessing the performance of referees is a subjective one, and from time to time, differences in opinions will arise as well as mistakes and misunderstandings.

“These issues are dealt with internally within the referees assessors’ fraternity and the FAS.”

Lim, a former national defender who is now also a FAS council member, also quashed suggestions in Mr Nair’s article that the FASRD and FASRC were unprofessional and dishonest.

Mr Nair, who is a certified referee and assessor, had quoted an unnamed senior assessor in his article who questioned the “honest and credibility” of the FASRD and the FASRC.

He also quoted an unnamed retired Fifa referee as saying that this incident was “tantamount to cheating or fixing the grades.”

He added that there was “prolonged referee favouritism, inconsistent checks and balances in referee-grading and lack of overall professionalism” within the FASRD and the FASRC.

But Lim rebuffed the allegations. He said: “To suggest that because differences and misunderstandings exist, that this means there is a lack of professionalism, as Suresh Nair did, is simply wrong.

“The referee assessor concerned has informed the FAS that at no time did he speak to Suresh on this issue and is upset at how this issue has been blown out of proportion.

“The FAS can also confirm that at no time did Suresh contact the FAS for our comments on this matter, and this remains the case as of now, despite his claims in his article to the contrary.”

“We are surprised that Suresh did not contact either the referee assessor or the FAS to get their sides of the story before publishing his article.”

Last Saturday (June 24), Mr Nair was issued a cease and desist letter from the FAS after he alleged that the association had deliberately leaked information about lawyer Krishna Ramachandra’s resignation as chairman of Tampines Rovers.

However, he has refused to comply with the FAS’s demand to publish an “unreserved apology” by Tuesday (June 27) for his allegations, but said he would be willing to “clear the air with a face-to-face meeting” with the FAS.

TODAY understands that the FAS is speaking to its lawyers to decide on the next course of action regarding this issue.