3 more S’pore football players face disciplinary action for breaking curfew during SEA Games: FAS

SINGAPORE — Three more national football players have been found to have broken their curfew during the team’s recent outing at the 30th South-east Asian Games (SEA Games) in Manila, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) said.

In a media statement on Monday (Dec 9), the FAS said that Shah Shahiran, Hami Syahin and Saifullah Akbar were found to have committed the same offence as six others after “further thorough investigations” were conducted by the association.

The three will face disciplinary measures along with the six other players named by the FAS in an earlier media statement on Friday.

The six players are: Tajeli Salamat, Joshua Pereira, Zulqarnaen Suzliman, Zharfan Rohaizad, Kenji Rusydi and Lionel Tan.

In its latest media statement, the FAS reiterated that such conduct by the national team players is wholly unacceptable and that any player found guilty of such offences will be dealt with severely.

It added: “As the matter is currently before the disciplinary committee, the FAS will not be making any further comments until it is appropriate to do so.”

The FAS’ reaction to the six players who have broken their curfew has been criticised online, with some commenters suggesting that the association is directing the blame for the team’s poor showing at the SEA Games to the six players.

DJ and social media personality Jade Rasif has also waded into the discussion, saying that she was “really bothered” by the “naming and shaming” of the players who had broken curfew.

In her Facebook post on Saturday, Ms Rasif said that it was a way to distract the public from the fact that the “Football Association of Singapore’s 2034 World Cup goal is a pipe dream without some serious structural changes”.

Earlier this year, the FAS set a goal for Singapore to reach the World Cup finals in 2034, though this was met with scepticism by the football fraternity.

At the SEA Games outing in the Philippines, Singapore was knocked out of the tournament at the group stages — the third SEA Games in a row in which the country has suffered an early exit.

Their only victory there was a 7-0 thrashing of minnows Brunei.