FAS’ financial practices ‘are sound, but donation policy needed’

SINGAPORE — With the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) being embroiled in a major scandal linked to a six-figure donation, several of the association’s former council members — who are running for office in the coming election — have defended the FAS’ financial management practices. 

Mr Bernard Tan, who was one of four FAS vice-presidents on the previous council, went as far as to describe the FAS as “one of the better-managed National Sports Associations in terms of financial affairs”. Still, the members of Team LKT led by former FAS vice-president Lim Kia Tong acknowledged on Monday (April 24) that there was no proper policy governing donations — as the FAS rarely receives them — and they vowed to make things right if they are voted into office. 

The FAS will hold its inaugural election this Saturday, but the polls have been overshadowed by last week’s police raids and questioning by the authorities of several high-profile footballing figures — former FAS president Zainudin Nordin, FAS general secretary Winston Lee and Hougang United chairman Bill Ng. Mr Ng, who is gunning for the top post in the election, is leading Team Game Changers, which will go up against Team LKT. 

Over the past two weeks, many have questioned how Team LKT’s members formerly on the FAS council were not aware of the S$500,000 donation made to the Asean Football Federation (AFF) despite the money having gone through the FAS. Doubts were also raised over the efficacy of the FAS’ financial operations and management. 

But at a media dialogue session held by Team LKT on Monday, Mr Tan insisted that this incident was not reflective of the way the FAS handles its finances. “This donation was a highly unique transaction — it was a middleman transaction, and this is not reflective of the state of financial management in the FAS,” said Mr Tan, who is also the chief marketing officer at ST Engineering. 

He noted that the amount of times that FAS receives donations can be counted “on one hand”. For example, the FAS solicits donations when it holds its annual Golf Day to raise funds for Care United, a charity and community programme.

He added: “Should we have a donation policy? Yes. We need to know the source of funds, and to understand the purpose of the funds received.”

Reiterating that they were not aware of the donation, Mr Lim, Mr Tan, as well as ex-FAS council member S Thavaneson stressed that nobody had informed the previous council or executive committee (exco) about the matter. “There was no discussion about this subject matter because it was never raised at council or exco meetings,” said Mr Lim. “Therefore, we would not be able to know how or what triggered this subject of S$500,000 donation to the AFF. So if you were to question us on accountability, then you’ll have to first see whether we were in the know (about the matter).”

Mr Tan added: “We can only be responsible if we know about it (the donation). As far as I’ve checked, none of the other council members knew about it, although we haven’t had the chance to ask every one of them yet. In retrospect, this matter should have been raised in the council.”

The donation by Tiong Bahru Football Club (TBFC) has dominated headlines in recent weeks, with Mr Ng — who runs TBFC — and Mr Lee giving contrasting accounts of how the donation was solicited. While Mr Ng claims that it was Mr Lee who asked TBFC to make the donation, the latter insists that he did not play an active role in the matter and instead pointed the finger at Mr Zainudin. 

Mr Tan said the role of the FAS Council was to operate as an “advisory body for the president”, and that the “president is conferred significant power by the FAS … and has sizeable authority”.

Mr Thavaneson, who was in the FAS Administration and Finance Committee, also revealed that the FAS accounts had gone through external auditors and were passed without any red flags being raised. “There are very strong financial guidelines and policies in the FAS. There is a signing protocol in place, and there are matrices for various (quanta) as to who can sign off (on the transaction),” he said. 

With days left to the polls, Team LKT said it plans to continue engaging the 44 FAS affiliates who will cast their votes this Saturday. While Mr Ng has been implicated in the saga, Mr Tan said his team saw itself as the “underdog”. 

Adding that his team would “continue working for every single vote”, Mr Tan said: “We want to prove our worth to our affiliates to show them that we deserve their votes ... We want to return the conversation back to football and heal this game, and to unite the people who are passionate about football.”