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Six issues the FAS council needs to fix

SINGAPORE — One and a half months after the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) elections were called, a new leadership emerged on Saturday (April 29) as Team LKT trumped Team Game Changers to herald a new era for the sport.

Team LKT's Lim Kia Tong (C), Bernard Tan (L) and Edwin Tong attend a press conference after the FAS elections, on April 29, 2017. Photo: Jason Quah/TODAY

Team LKT's Lim Kia Tong (C), Bernard Tan (L) and Edwin Tong attend a press conference after the FAS elections, on April 29, 2017. Photo: Jason Quah/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — One and a half months after the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) elections were called, a new leadership emerged on Saturday (April 29) as Team LKT trumped Team Game Changers to herald a new era for the sport.

Led by new president Lim Kia Tong, there were plenty of challenges and obstacles as the new 15-member council attempt to uplift local football.

As the dust starts to settle, we briefly look at some lingering issues in the aftermath.

DONATE-GATE

The Commercial Affairs Department’s investigation into the suspected misuse of funds at Tiong Bahru Football Club (TBFC) is still ongoing.

Bill Ng, the chairman of TBFC, was arrested and is assisting in investigations, along with his wife Bonnie Wong, former FAS president Zainudin Nordin, and FAS general secretary Winston Lee.

Despite the arrest and the police raids that preceded it – at the clubhouses of TBFC, Hougang United, of which he is also chairman, and Woodlands Wellington- the 57-year-old was still cleared to contest the elections as leader of Game Changers.

Ng spoke only briefly to media after the elections defeat on Saturday (Apr 29), saying his team will support Singapore football as the “12th man”. Lee was also present before voting, but was nowhere to be seen after the results were announced.

There have been no updates about the probe but it is a matter that remains keenly watched by football observers.

STAYING OR LEE-VING?

As a result of his involvement in Donate-gate, much speculation has arisen over Lee’s position in the FAS. The 52-year-old assumed his current role in 2008 but is expected to step down from his post, which looks increasingly untenable given the current situation.

Team LKT declined to make an immediate decision on Lee’s employment at the post-election press conference, with new president Lim Kia Tong only saying it will be decided “much, much later”.

New vice-president Edwin Tong told TODAY that they will not act yet in the interest of fairness to Lee, but added a decision will ultimately have to be reached.

“It (when we decide) also depends – if the investigations take a long time, we can’t wait (as) we have to move forward,” he said. “But at the same time, it’s still early days, we want to see where that (investigation) goes, roughly, before we can actually make a decision.”

CONSTITUTION CHANGE

Despite his arrest, Ng was cleared by the FAS electoral committee to take part in the elections. The committee also added that they had “no power” to call off the elections despite the police investigations, even as many in the fraternity debated whether the elections should still carry on as planned.

On FIFA’s part, it was satisfied with how FAS has handled the situation, as their representative at the elections, director of member associations, Asia and Oceania, Sanjeevan Balasingam said: “Everything has been done in accordance to the statues and electoral code. We are very happy with the way FAS has conducted the process.”

But what happens if a candidate standing for election is not just arrested, but charged before the elections take place? What possible recourse could a participating team have? Perhaps they could make provisions for such circumstances in the constitution.

HOW MANY AFFILIATES?

Should there be an increase in the number of affiliates? In a country where football is the biggest sport, leaving voting power in the hands of just 44 affiliates may seem too small a number. Perhaps the nine associate members under FAS can be made affiliates as well.

Having more affiliates is something Hougang United head coach Philippe Aw agrees with, as he said: “It’s definitely better to have more, as more people get to vote and decide the leaders of Singapore football.”

Also, with the majority of voting power held by the 23 National Football League (NFL) clubs, both camps naturally tried to appeal to this group in order to get their buy in. One wonders whether that is fair, given that the S.League only has nine votes despite being the top tier of football in Singapore.

“They should look into this,” said Aw. “S.League clubs being professional clubs have less total voting power… In four years’ time, another election comes along so we should study this first one and have a better, more robust second elections.”

FIRST THINGS FIRST

The new FAS leaders gave little away when probed on what they would start work on immediately, but it is reassuring that they promised to make governance a key priority.

In light of the donation saga, it is important that accountability and transparency is made a hallmark of the new regime. Indeed, Sport Singapore and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth have called on the new council to restore trust and confidence.

Vice-president Edwin Tong also told TODAY that there will be a review of the current FAS structure and sub-committees, which appears to be another positive move, as they seek to get the correct foundations in place to execute their manifesto. This will include sorting out the future of the staff and putting key personnel in position.

JACKPOT LICENCES

Vice-president Bernard Tan briefly mentioned that the council will address “issues of the clubs that are… related to gaming machines” in their press conference.

Clubs like Hougang United, Albirex Niigata and Balestier Khalsa operate jackpot machines to help fund daily club operations, and the revelation that TBFC’s clubhouse brought in S$37 million in revenue last year shocked many local football supporters.

Going forward, FAS has to look at how clubs are funded and run – is the current model of annual handouts and supplementing them with jackpot income the way to go, or is there a better solution, such as turning private?

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