I thought S$500k donation was for local football, says Ng in twist

SINGAPORE — In the latest twist to the saga surrounding Bill Ng’s S$500,000 donation, the Game Changers leader has now declared that he was unaware the money was going to the Asean Football Federation (AFF) as he was under the impression that it would be used to benefit local football. 

His latest comments come after the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) said on Sunday that Ng knew all along that the donation was going to AFF’s Football Management System (FMS). 

The Hougang United chairman also pointed his finger squarely at FAS general secretary Winston Lee as the person who had approached him directly about the donation, instead of former president Zainudin Nordin as claimed by the FAS.
Repeated attempts to reach Zainudin by telephone were not successful, and the former chief would only say via text message to TODAY: “I have stepped down and have no comment to make. Please refer questions to FAS.”

The saga that rocked the local football community began last Thursday when Ng, Game Changers’ presidential candidate for the inaugural FAS elections, revealed that he had donated S$850,000 to FAS at their request through his clubs Tiong Bahru FC and Hougang United.

Ng directed the media to query Lee over how the funds were used, and the latter said via an FAS statement that S$200,000 went to the LionsXII, while S$500,000 was used to support the AFF’s FMS. 

The FAS then said it “only served to facilitate the donation”, and that it had “at no time” donated to the AFF. 

However, Game Changers refuted the FAS’ version of events on Monday (April 17) in a four-page statement. 

“Tiong Bahru FC had, from December 2014 onwards and at the request of Winston Lee to Bill Ng made in person, given donations totalling S$500,000 to the FAS by way of various cheque payments,” it said. 

“We would like to reiterate that all of these cheques were made payable to the FAS ... The recipient of payments is the FAS, and the donor Tiong Bahru FC.” Game Changers also accused Lee of “flip flopping” in his statements. 

The FAS had said that it was former president Zainudin who had approached Ng with a proposal to support the AFF’s FMS, and that Ng had decided to donate S$500,000 directly to AFF through Tiong Bahru. 

However, Game Changers said: “We categorically state that all such donations were made by Tiong Bahru FC to FAS at the request of Lee.  

“The former president Mr Zainudin Nordin did not approach Mr Bill Ng over the AFF FMS at any time.”

Responding to TODAY’s query about whether the funds would have been better used to improve local football, an FAS spokesperson said on Sunday that the question “should be directed at the donor who made the decision”.
“It is clear that the amount of S$500,000 was never meant to be donated to the FAS or any Singapore footballing activity,” said the FAS.

“This was not a case of FAS accepting a donation and thereafter channelling the amount to AFF instead of using it for local football.”

However, Game Changers challenged this, as they said: “Having donated the funds to the FAS, how these funds were then used is something which only the FAS administrators can explain.

“When Bill Ng agreed to Winston’s request for a donation, it was strictly on the basis that the money was to be used to benefit Singapore football, especially our local clubs.”

Game Changers also added that it was “very unusual” that Tiong Bahru had “never received” any form of acknowledgement or receipt for the donation from the AFF or FAS, nor any account of how the funds were used. 

On its part, the FAS had told TODAY that the donation did not qualify for tax purposes as it was made by Tiong Bahru to AFF directly, hence they were not required to issue a tax-deductible receipt. 

Game Changers also called on the FAS, which is registered as a charity with Institution of Public Character (IPC) status, to be “transparent” about how the S$500,000 was used. 

They also raised questions over the circumstances surrounding the donations, as well as the viability of the AFF’s FMS.

“The FAS is a charity with IPC status. The rules make it very clear that any donations made by external parties must have the Board’s approval. How is it that the rest of the former FAS Council, like Lim Kia Tong, S Thavaneson, Bernard Tan and Edwin Tong and more, did not know that such a large donation had been received from Tiong Bahru FC, and that the funds were being channelled to the AFF?” 

They also fired back at Lim’s request for Ng to “allay public concerns” by opening the Hougang and Tiong Bahru accounts for public viewing, calling it a “ludicrous” demand.

While Team LKT did not respond by press time, the FAS said via its spokesperson: “We disagree with these baseless allegations and will present the details in due course.”