Fifa has approved proposed changes to constitution regarding elections, says FAS

SINGAPORE — Fifa, football’s world governing body, has approved the Football Association of Singapore’s (FAS) proposed amendments to its constitution with regards to the election of its office bearers, the FAS announced on Thursday (Sept 15) in a media release.

Key changes to the FAS constitution that were proposed include the need for the new president of the national sports association and eight other council members to be elected as a team. 

This means that candidates for the presidency, deputy presidency, four vice-presidential posts and three council member positions must form a slate in the upcoming elections, which are scheduled to be held near the end of the year. These positions cannot be contested individually.

However, there are six other council member seats in the 15-man FAS council that interested candidates can contest as individuals. 

The FAS had also proposed a set of eligibility criteria for the nine-man team. 

To qualify as a presidential candidate, the individual must have served as an active member of association football for two of the past five years. The FAS has defined active membership as being an official of an affiliated club, or a coach, referee or administrator.

To qualify for the remaining eight seats in the nine-man team, candidates “must have played an active role in the management of sports in general, or a sport in particular, or have professional or technical skills that will benefit football,” said the FAS in its release.

It added that the 15 electable seats aside, three more positions will be reserved for co-opted individuals “with skillsets beneficial to the organisation”. 

This move will bring the total membership in the council to 18. However, the three co-opted members will not have a vote on the FAS council, said the FAS.

Another proposed constitutional amendment by the FAS that Fifa has approved is that anyone planning to run for office must first undergo integrity checks by the FAS’ Electoral Committee. 

However, the members of the Electoral Committee must first be subjected to integrity checks by the FAS’ Ethics Committee.  

The FAS also said in its media release that it has already issued the details of the proposed constitutional amendments to all its members and affiliates, which includes clubs from the S.League, National Football League (NFL) and Island-Wide League (IWL). 

They had also spent the past two weeks meeting with the clubs to explain the rationale behind the various proposed constitutional changes.

Current FAS vice-president Lim Kia Tong, who is widely expected to run for the presidency and was part of the FAS taskforce that worked on the proposed amendments, said in the media release: “These series of meetings with our stakeholders were essential as we wanted to ensure that everyone has clarity on the reasons why some changes needed to be made, such as the eligibility requirements and need for integrity checks which have been mandated by Fifa.”

The lawyer, who is the deputy chairman of Fifa’s Disciplinary Committee, added: “We hope that our affiliates will now have a better understanding of the situation and we look forward to seeing them at the AGM.”

There are 46 voting affiliates of the FAS. They include seven S.League clubs, 10 NFL sides, 14 IWL clubs and 11 Women’s Premier League (WPL) teams. The rest are unattached teams such as sit-out sides Woodlands Wellington (WWFC) and Gombak United.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the clubs will approve of the proposed amendments at the FAS’ Annual General Meeting, which will be held on Sept 24.

If the proposed amendments are not approved, it may mean the FAS will have to send a fresh set of amendments to Fifa for approval, resulting in a further delay of the national sports body’s first-ever council elections.

NFL club officials who TODAY spoke to had mixed reactions to the proposed constitutional amendments.

Darwin Jalil, president of Eunos Crescent FC, said: “I think the new constitution is fair enough. It allows for a more holistic team to take charge (of FAS), which has its pros and cons. 

“The good thing is that you get a variety of people with different expertise and skills in the organisation but, then again, you also need people who understand football to run the FAS. 

“If the person doesn’t know what problems currently exist in Singapore football and the FAS, they will not be able to remedy it, so they must have the right knowledge.

However, Yakob Hashim, coach of Yishun Sentek Mariners, believes the constitution should not impose such strict eligibility requirements for those planning to contest the elections.

“You have people who are over-qualified and know the rules of football, yet the sport in Singapore is going backwards,” said the former national goalkeeper. 

“So why put these criteria in there? There might be people who can change local football who are available but cannot contest because of these requirements. 

“Anyway, the voters are all knowledgeable about local football, and we won’t vote blindly for just anyone. We will make sure we vote the right people in, so why doesn’t the FAS open it up so that more people are eligible?”

Alim Omar, team manager of Siglap FC, added: “I think we need more than just six individual members in the council. 

“We need at least nine, so that the president and his team doesn’t get full power to do whatever they want. They will first have to convince the rest of the council members before going ahead with any decisions.”

The current president of the FAS is Zainudin Nordin, who announced previously that he would not be running for office again. 

The former Member of Parliament was appointed to the post in 2009 by the Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports (now known as the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth). 

To date, three other groups have indicated their interest in standing for elections. 

One is led by former WWFC club manager R Vengadasalam, who held a meeting with 19 NFL, IWL and WPL clubs at the Metropolitan YMCA on Wednesday night, where he unveiled his team’s manifesto, and also introduced lawyer Alfred Dodwell as a member of his team.

According to media reports, Hougang United chairman Bill Ng is also contemplating forming a team for the elections, while WWFC die-hard fan James Lim has announced on social media that he too is putting together a slate of candidates for the elections.