Team LKT are deserved winners but we will keep an eye on them: FAS affiliates

SINGAPORE – After a fiery election battle that divided the local football fraternity divided, affiliates of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) said newly-elected president Lim Kia Tong and his nine-member team will first need to heal and unite the fractured community.

“The football fraternity definitely needs to reunite as it has been divided for quite some time,” said Bishan Barx chairman Hardi Jani.

“This is the best time to unite the parties involved. Ultimately, they have to bring back the atmosphere from the ground and up.”

With the landmark polls overshadowed by the controversy over Tiong Bahru Football Club’s (TBFC) S$500,000 donation to the Asean Football Federation (AFF), the fraternity came to the elections prepared to embrace what Lim called a “fresh start and a fresh chapter” for Singapore football.

“It’s a very good election…both sides had good candidates, and whichever way it went today, it can only be good for Singapore football,” said Paul Poh, general manager of Warriors Football Club after the elections at the Black Box auditorium.

Hardi added: “The future is bright for football. This president and his team are capable of giving their best back to football and I’m hopeful for their term and that we can see changes in the near future.

“I know it will take time…people have given them their trust, and the team need to see what they can do.”

While the contest had seemed too close to call ahead of Saturday’s polls, Arriola Buenaventura Alphonsus, president of NFL side Starlight Soccerites felt that last week’s police raid on three football clubs linked to Ng had swung votes in Lim’s favour.

He added: “I’m not surprised by the result because of the negative press (reports). That was what brought his downfall.

“Since this team has won, we will open our eyes to monitor them.

“Whatever they promised before the elections, they will have to fulfill them. The important thing is to improve Singapore football.”

Affiliates also said that the new council will need to fix the many ills plaguing the sport.

In recent years, Singapore football has sunk to a new low with the national team and national under-23 side floundering at the regional and international level, while the S.League continues to struggle to attract sponsors and fans in its 22nd season.

This was further exacerbated by the police raids on the FAS, TBFC, Hougang United and Woodlands Wellington last week in the biggest scandal to hit the sport in recent years.

While critics have pointed out that a number of key members of the new council, such as Lim, deputy president Bernard Tan and vice-president Edwin Tong, had not improved Singapore football despite serving in the former FAS executive committee for years, the team has promised that things will change under the new elected leadership.

Mohd Rafique Mohd Hanifa, chairman of Siglap Community Sports Club, believes that they have chosen the right men to lead football out of the doldrums.

“I’m happy that Team LKT won, Lim Kia Tong was in the interim council as well and he brings a sense of stability to Singapore football,” he said on Saturday.

“With this promise of change, things can only get better.

“We have to give them a little time to implement these changes. They have to form task forces to identify the weaknesses (and areas for improvement), to see what and why it went wrong.”

Warriors FC general manager Poh is also hopeful that the new team will be able to resolve some of the challenges faced by S.League clubs, particularly those related to the use of football fields at the stadiums.

According to him, training sessions for the Warriors and Centre of Excellence side are often disrupted by maintenance of the fields during the season.

“The field scheduling by Sport Singapore is unacceptable for a Singapore league,” he said.

“The best time to fix a field is during the four-month long, off-season time but they do it during the season.

“Everyone is facing a field problem, and sometimes we have to rent commercial facilities at commercial rates and that brings up the cost.”

Rafique added: “There are many issues to fix. It’s not just one – football has to be improved as a whole - at the grassroots, schools level, and also looking at players after they turn 18. And they need to look at what do to with the NFL, S.League clubs.”