Football
Gabriel Tan 7y

Singapore football to elect new leadership by May 2017

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced it will elect its new council by May, following the conclusion of its Extraordinary General Meeting (EOGM) on Monday evening.

Initially scheduled to take place at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in September, the FAS made the 11th-hour decision to postpone the voting on constitutional amendments required to allow for elected leadership.

Based on the existing constitution, the key members of the FAS, including the president and vice presidents, were put in place through appointment.

On Monday, voting on the proposed constitutional changes finally took place. With 38 of the 46 member affiliates of FAS present at its Jalan Besar Stadium headquarters, a unanimous decision was reached in favour of the changes.

As per the current constitution, the new draft will now have to be approved by three government offices -- Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Registry of Societies, and Commissioner of Charities -- before it is officially installed as the new foundation that Singapore football will be governed by.

"I think we are all in agreement that this is a very important milestone in Singapore football history," said outgoing FAS president Zainudin Nordin, who has been in the role for two terms since first being appointed in 2009.

"The engagement [between all the parties] has been good and it has been a very positive experience.

"The positive aspect of this whole journey is that is a lot of convergence of minds that, if they are agreeable to this new step forward, there will subsequently be room for further revisions and amendments in the future."

Lim Kia Tong, one of Zainudin's four vice presidents added: "When we mulled over the creation of a new constitution, there were a few pillars to guide us.

"One, is of course, stability so, in terms of that, we have come up with a novel way of electing council members by way of a slate election.

"Of the nine members within this slate, there will be six Exco [executive committee] members plus three other council members, which forms the core and pillar of this group that manages and runs football in Singapore.

"Another six more council members will then vie for election on an individual basis, which will give vibrancy to the election as this six can come to partake from anywhere in Singapore and, if successful, will be included.

"We have moved along a very tedious journey and have worked closely and communicated constantly with officials from FIFA.

"This vote demonstrates how the football fraternity have found the ingredients of these amendments very palatable.

"The most satisfying thing has been the unanimous vote of full confidence."

Although the current council was scheduled to step down on Nov. 15, it is likely that some of them will make be reappointed by MCCY as the provisional council to oversee day-to-day running of FAS throughout the course of this transition phase.

And while the deadline for election of its new leadership is May, FAS is optimistic it could arrive even sooner.

"Nov. 15 was the date set by MCCY in terms of the extension for the current council," explained fellow FAS vice president Edwin Tong.

"Now, with the amendments in place, we will need to have a conversation with them to see what the next step will be.

"The overriding philosophy is that the sooner it [electing the new council] is done, the better.

"By and large, that is also the sense I get when I speak to the members."

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