My team has right mix of professional, grassroots expertise to run FAS: Lim

SINGAPORE — Lim Kia Tong, who has formed a team to contest the upcoming Football Association of Singapore (FAS) elections, believes that his 15-member slate possesses a good balance of professional expertise and grassroots experience to help the FAS better address the various challenges facing Singapore football, and lift the sport from the doldrums.

Currently the interim president of the FAS provisional council, the 64-year-old lawyer will contest the new presidency against Hougang United chairman Bill Ng.

Key office positions — president, deputy president, four vice-presidents, three council members — must be contested as a nine-person slate. Six other council member positions are also available, and must be contested individually.

However, both Lim and Ng have assembled 15-member teams to contest those as well.

The names of all 34 nominees, including four independent candidates for the individual positions, were released by the FAS on Saturday after the 6pm deadline for submission.

Lim told TODAY that “a lot of thought” has been put into the selection of his team, which has been named “Team LKT”, as they look to challenge Ng’s “Game Changers”.

Team LKT includes Komoco Motors group managing director Teo Hock Seng; S Thavaneson, who runs a sports goods distribution business; Dr Dinesh Nair, a cardiologist; Bernard Tan, the chief marketing officer at ST Engineering; and lawyer and Member of Parliament Edwin Tong.

Teo is the former chairman of Tampines Rovers, while Thavaneson remains the chairman of Balestier Khalsa. Dr Nair is the chairman of the FAS Medical Committee while Tan and Tong were former FAS Council vice-presidents.

Other members in Lim’s team include Pathlight School educator Sharda Parvin, who plays for the Tanjong Pagar United women’s team, and Forrest Li, founder of online gaming portal Garena. Although they have no prior football management experience, Lim said: “There are people with different talents, skillsets and knowledge of the game.

“Of course, there are people who have knowledge of the game, but have maybe not been involved in the management — but their skillsets are important in the sense that they can drive the management of the game in other aspects.

“You can say that it’s a good balance of the new and old.”

Lim said that his team’s main objective is to boost local football and that they will unveil their plans soon.

“I am looking at a team that can take football to a new high level,” Lim declared.

“That will involve changing of perceptions and inculcating new beliefs and cultures into the game.

“We will address it ultimately when we come up with our manifesto, and we will definitely share with the members what FAS has been doing, will continue to do and will be doing in the future.”

Lim was also asked about recent media reports that FAS general secretary Winston Lee could be resigning from his post after nine years regardless of the elections outcome. Citing sources, The Straits Times reported on Saturday that Lee, 52, is wanted by a sports marketing firm in China.

Although he is the top employee at the FAS, in charge of the day-to-day running of the national body, and reporting to the FAS Council, Lee is also one of four vice-presidents at the Asian Football Confederation, and a marketing consultant for world governing body FIFA.

Lim said: “I don’t know how the story (about Lee’s plans to leave) came about, or what triggered it.

“However, I think Winston’s international standing is very strong, so I am not surprised that there will be people in certain parts of the world who want to consider his talent, skill and football knowledge (as an asset).”