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Ganesan, King of the Kallang Roar, dies

SINGAPORE — If he was 30 years younger, Mr Nadesan Ganesan would have been an ideal Asian candidate for the presidency at football’s world governing body FIFA, veteran journalist Mr Suresh Nair said of the former Football Association of Singapore (FAS) chairman, who died today morning (July 1).

Former Football Association of Singapore chairman N Ganesan. Photo: The New Paper

Former Football Association of Singapore chairman N Ganesan. Photo: The New Paper

SINGAPORE — If he was 30 years younger, Mr Nadesan Ganesan would have been an ideal Asian candidate for the presidency at football’s world governing body FIFA, veteran journalist Mr Suresh Nair said of the former Football Association of Singapore (FAS) chairman, who died today morning (July 1).

His tribute was one of many following the passing of Mr Ganesan, who led the FAS from 1974 to 1981.

Mr Ganesan, who was 82, had lived in a nursing home at Sarkies Road after a stroke in 2011 left him wheelchair-bound and with a speech impediment. But he will be remembered for being one of Singapore’s greatest sports administrators and a giant in the country’s sporting landscape, having presided over the “golden period” of Singapore football.

Under Mr Ganesan’s leadership, Singapore moved their home games from the Jalan Besar Stadium to the 55,000 capacity Kallang National Stadium in 1974. This eventually led to the creation of the famous “Kallang Roar”.

Mr Ganesan is also widely credited for establishing the Lion City Cup under-16 tournament in 1977 that uncovered the likes of Singapore footballing icons Mr Fandi Ahmad and Mr V Sundramoorthy. The competition later become the model for the FIFA under-16 World Championships.

Singapore also nearly reached the 1980 Olympic Games, but lost to Iran in the final of the qualifying competition.

His tenure also saw the emergence of Singapore football legends such as Mr Samad Allapitchay, Mr Quah Kim Song, Mr S Rajagopal, Mr Mohammad Noh and Mr Edmund Wee.

“Mr Ganesan was deeply passionate about Singapore football, and poured his heart and soul into our sport when he led the FAS,” said FAS in a statement.

“His eight-year FAS chairmanship was also regarded as one of the golden periods of Singapore football. We will forever be grateful to his immense contributions to our sport, and we will seek to remember him in the best way possible.”

A qualified criminal lawyer, Mr Ganesan’s passion meant he was also a vocal and animated figure on the national team bench.

Despite having retreated from Singapore’s footballing scene for many years, Mr Ganesan — affectionately known as “Gani” — is still fondly remembered.

“He was a person who was extremely passionate about football, and would always watch the players during training and matches,” Mr Samad told TODAY. “His patriotism and passion made us train and play even harder.”

Former Singapore striker Ho Kwang Hock also said: “Ganesan would fight for the team and do whatever he thought would help improve Singapore football. For example, he was confident that installing the late Choo Seng Quee as head coach would help the national team.

“So he appointed Seng Quee despite fierce opposition from majority of the then-FAS committee. That took a lot of guts but Seng Quee and the national team delivered the results.”

But the fiercely passionate former FAS chief was also a fatherly figure to the players.

“He was always there with us to show his support, be it in the early mornings or the late hours,” said Mr Quah. “But he never had any airs about him and was very accessible to the players. He would sometimes give S$10 to S$50 from his own pocket to players who struggled financially. He certainly spurred us to do even better during games.”

Mr Ganesan later became legal advisor to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), where he forged a close friendship with its former general secretary Peter Velappan. Mr Velappan would be one of the few persons the former FAS chief kept in touch with in recent years.

“Mr Ganesan had very high integrity, transparency and honesty,” said Mr Velappan. “His dream was to make Singapore the dominant footballing nation in Asia. He was a go-getter and would go all out to complete whatever project or ideas he had in mind.”

A minute’s silence will be observed before all League Cup fixtures this week. His body is resting at the Singapore Casket, and the funeral service will be at Mandai Crematorium at about 5pm this Saturday.

Mr Robert Sim, another member of Singapore’s famous national team of the 1970s, said: “We won’t have someone like him again and I salute him for all that he’s done for Singapore football.”

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