By Duncan Mackay
December 23 - Worawi Makudi (pictured), the President of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) and a member of FIFA’s ruling Executive Committee, has threatened to step down from his post after the country’s disastrous campaign in the 25th Southeast Asian Games (SEA) tournament.
Thailand’s 16-year reign as SEA Games champions came to a crashing end after the under-23 team were dumped out of the biennial sporting event in the preliminary round, losing 2-1 to Malaysia.
It was the first time in 36 years that the Thais failed to reach the knockout stage.
The early elimination sparked a wild criticism in Thailand, particularly the work of the FAT in preparing the team for the title defence in Vientiane with calls for Worawi to join former Liverpool and Tranmere Rovers player Steve Darby, who has been suspended as coach following the campaign.
A tearful Worawi said: “This failure’s the most disappointment to all Thais.
“We’d high expectation before the tournament that we would win the gold for ninth successive time.
“But, the competition in the Games is not easy as anyone thought.
“All other teams wanted to beat us.
“I’d tried to remind the players that every second in the game is critical.
“We needed to keep our focus until the end.
“It’s a costly experience for us.”
Worawi was recently re-elected as the FAT’s President for a second term having originally been voted in in 2007 after 11 years as secretary general.
He said: “Regarding on the call from some group who wanted me to resign.
“I’m a kind of person who wasn’t attached to the position.
“So, I’m willing to consider myself if the majority of fans want me to leave or deem that I’m not suitable for the job.”
Worawi, 58, is now staking his survival on a strong end to Thailand’s qualifying campaign in the Asian Cup when the side will be under the guidance of former England captain Bryan Robson (pictured), who has taken over as coach from ex-Manchester City and Sunderland manager Peter Reid, who has returned to England as assistant manager of Premier League Stoke City.
Thailand’s are due to play against against Jordan at Rajamangala Stadium on January 6.
Thailand, who gained a scoreless draw at Jordan, must win to remain in contention for a ticket to the 2011 Asian Cup finals.
Worawi said: ”Now, we’ve to move forward our training programme.
“Tomorrow, Robson will return to the country, so the preparation might start right away.
“I’m still confident we could score at least four points from the remaining two Cup qualifiers.”
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