F.A.S. hopes to call elections by early 2017

SINGAPORE — The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is hopeful of holding its first-ever elections by early next year, provided its revised Constitution is passed at the upcoming Extraordinary General Meeting (EOGM) on Nov 7.

The new FAS Constitution was initially due to be put to the vote during the association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) last month, but it was removed from the agenda as several affiliates had requested more time to peruse the proposed changes.

Having received several suggestions from two members — Island Wide League (IWL) outfit Gymkhana FC and S.League side Hougang United — the FAS has decided to make two changes to the original draft of the Constitution. The first is to inject the “promotion and development of women’s football and the full participation of women at all levels of football governance” into the objectives of the FAS. The second change will see the Disability and Women’s Committee split into two separate entities, with a committee focused solely on disability football and another focused on women’s football.

The proposed Constitution has already been endorsed by world football governing body Fifa. However, the 46 FAS affiliates will still have until tomorrow to propose further changes.

FAS vice-president Lim Kia Tong said: “We’re still waiting for any feedback from our affiliates. But if we find (their proposals) impractical or should not be included, then we won’t include it. But, as a member, they can still table it for discussion at the EOGM and let the general body decide.”

Lim admits that, even if the Constitution is passed in three weeks’ time, there will still be several other processes to go through before the elections can happen. “We would like to do it (the elections) within three months of passing the Constitution,” said Lim. “This will give people time to look for suitable candidates to run. But there are still many processes and it will be difficult to say exactly when.” NOAH TAN