FAS hires experienced sports administrator Yazeen Buhari as new Deputy General Secretary

SINGAPORE —  He left his role as the head of development and planning at the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) in November last year to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Kuala Lumpur, where he was put in charge of leading their planning and strategy department.

But just 10 months after leaving the FAS, local sports administrator Yazeen Buhari has been lured back to serve Singapore football again. This time, however, the 39-year-old will be taking on larger responsibilities as the FAS’ new FAS Deputy General Secretary (DGS).

The appointment of Yazeen, who was previously an assistant director at Sport Singapore (SportSG) and the General Manager of Singapore Athletics, was announced by the FAS yesterday.

It is the first major hire by the new FAS council whose office bearers were elected in late April.

Said Yazeen, whose wife and two daughters will remain in KL: “I am very happy to be back with the FAS, to work with the new ex-co and council. I have confidence and also share in their vision to improve Singapore football at all levels, and to bring our national teams to greater heights. 

“I believe the experience I gained in my time with the AFC will help me in my new role. It is a very exciting time now with the new council in place, and I look forward to working with them and my other colleagues to bring Singapore football to greater heights.”

FAS vice-president S Thavaneson said: “The FAS Council is very pleased that Yazeen has decided to re-join us. We are confident that he will add value, and we look forward to working with him.”

Yazeen’s key responsibilities will include supervising the implementation of FAS’ Strategic Plan, as well as engaging and managing the key stakeholders of Singapore football. This includes working with world governing body Fifa, the AFC, and the Asean Football Federation.

Yazeen’s appointment comes in the wake of the departures of FAS deputy directors Adrian Chan, who headed the competitions department, and Jason Lee Boon Hong (corporate affairs and strategic development). The latter's roles will now come under Yazeen's purview.

FAS vice-president Edwin Tong said that Yazeen’s new role would see him assume Lee’s previous responsibilities. However, the FAS are searching for another DGS to oversee the competitions department, and manage the S.League, which will now come under the national body's full purview.

Previously, Singapore’s only professional sports league was managed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who Tong said was “organisationally outside the FAS structure”.

The FAS will appoint the second DGS once the structure of next season’s S.League is finalised. The FAS are currently still in discussions with SportSG over next season’s budget for the S.League.

“The eventual plan is to have another DGS to handle the competitions side of things,” explained Tong. “However, we must first come to a landing upon what the structure and funding (of the S.League) will be.”

He also said there were currently “no updates” on the status of FAS general-secretary Winston Lee but added that the “position is constantly being reviewed.”

Winston was one of four individuals arrested in April following a police probe into the suspected misuse of funds at National Football League (NFL) side Tiong Bahru Football Club (TBFC), and an attempt by a senior club official to obstruct the completion of audits of the S-League’s sit-out clubs.