Fines, suspension for officials of Lion City Sailors, Tampines Rovers after clash at Jalan Besar Stadium

SINGAPORE — The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) on Wednesday (Aug 10) said that it has fined the football coaches of Lion City Sailors and Tampines Rovers — as well as the two football clubs — over their roles in a fracas that took place last month towards the end of a Singapore Premier League match.

In a news release late on Wednesday night, FAS said that its disciplinary committee had deduced that the Sailors’ head coach Kim Do Hoon and Tampines’ assistant coach Fahrudin Mustafic were both guilty of violent conduct.

Kim was fined S$2,000 and Fahrudin was fined S$3,000.  

The two were also given a three-match suspension with immediate effect.

This means that they will be banned from the team dressing room as well as the team bench for the next three Singapore Premier League matches involving their respective clubs.

Separately, FAS said that the two teams were also fined S$5,000 each for their conduct.

FAS added that all the evidence was reviewed and studied by its disciplinary committee before the sanctions were meted out and the official notice of decision will be issued to both clubs on Thursday. 

The incident happened on July 24 at Jalan Besar Stadium where the Sailors beat Tampines 2-1 after added injury time.

Tensions were high when both teams were tied at 1-1 and four minutes to full-time, there were commotions among some players on the field and team members at the bench.

Video footages from the Singapore Premier League’s official match highlights show Kim and Fahrudin being near each other as chaos ensued around them.

Fahrudin is seen extending his left hand towards Kim’s shoulder, who pushes it away.

The two men then square off against each other, as Kim appears to head-butt Fahrudin in the face as he leaned in towards Kim.

Fahrudin is then seen bending over and covering his face.

Mr K Bala Chandran, chairperson of the disciplinary committee, said that the panel had considered several factors and it took into account that the “situation did not escalate into a brawl and the match was not abandoned as good sense ultimately prevailed”.

“The disciplinary committee concluded that the acts of both (Kim) and (Fahrudin) were of violent conduct and that they, as officials who are expected to uphold professionalism and sportsmanship in such situations, had fallen short of expectations.”

Mr Bala Chandran added: “(Fahrudin) was seen via video footages to have moved towards (Kim) on three separate occasions, which unfortunately further escalated the situation, rather than defusing it.

“In this regard, the disciplinary committee agreed that his actions merit the higher fine imposed.”