By Mark Baber
October 2 – Under pressure from FIFA to end government interference in appointment of its officials, the Singapore FA (FAS) has delayed the appointment of new council members, promising to put a new election process in place by March 2016.
Under Singapore’s current selection process the FAS president is an elected member of the ruling People’s Action Party, with all council members, including the president and deputy president, appointed by the Singapore minister in charge of sports and confirmed by voting at an annual general meeting.
On Wednesday, as the mandate of the current office holders officially came to an end, the FAS issued a media statement saying: “Over the recent months, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has been discussing with the FIFA on its process of appointing Council members.
“The current appointment process has been in place since 1982. From the start, FIFA was aware of this practice and did not object to it.
“But FIFA has recently asked the FAS to review its process and to move towards a full election of its Council members.
“That being the case, and on the advice of FIFA, the FAS has decided not to make changes to its office bearers for the time being.”
According to the statement the current office holders will instead “work closely with FIFA on the proposed amendments to the FAS Constitution to ensure alignment of our electoral process with the FIFA statutes. We will also seek the consent of our members and affiliates as well as the necessary regulatory approvals for any changes to the Constitution.”
The process is expected to be completed by March next year, whilst an announcement on the dates for new elections will follow.
With neighbouring Indonesia having been suspended for political interference, Singapore is clearly concerned to avoid a similar fate.
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