S’porean winners could have dressed better at FAS award ceremony

I refer to the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Nite held at Marina Bay Sands on Nov 27.

While I was very happy that S-League club Balestier Khalsa managed to snag two awards, I was somewhat disappointed at the attire the two footballers wore.

Hazzuwan Halim, who was named Young Player of the Year, and Huzaifah Aziz, who won the Goal of the Year award, were pictured dressing casually for this prestigious event. This is especially disappointing as I understand that the dress code was stated as “suit and tie”.

They were in stark contrast to the three Japanese footballers and coach from Albirex who were all dressed in sharp suits.

I can understand that the young Singaporean footballers, both 23, may not have their own suits. But surely their club could have made efforts to rent a suit for them to attend the ceremony?

Some may feel that attire is not really that important. However, the level of professionalism and respect, or lack of, to the organiser simply illustrates that we just do not have the mindset or behaviour of professional footballers, as exemplified by the Albirex coach and players.

I sincerely hope this is not a systemic issue of all our professional clubs and footballers.