FAS to form panel to review SEA Games performance; recommendations to be made public

SINGAPORE: A review panel will be convened to look into the performance of the Singapore men’s football team at the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, with the ensuing recommendations made public, the chief of the sport’s national governing body told CNA on Saturday (May 20).

In addition, the Football Association of Singapore’s (FAS) acting president Bernard Tan added that the under-22 squad will not be involved in any international tournaments until the review is complete, and until “implementation” of the findings has reached a stage where authorities are satisfied that the country will be at a “competitive” level.

Upcoming fixtures for the Young Lions included the under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers as well as the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, from September to October.

Earlier this month Singapore were eliminated in the group stages of the regional tournament for the fifth consecutive time, and suffered a 7-0 mauling by Malaysia in their final game. It was Singapore’s heaviest defeat at the Games since the competition became an age-group affair in 2001.

“I feel pained about it and I’m quite sure it came across in different ways over the last few days. More importantly, I want this pain to be felt by all involved in football, especially the FAS,” said Tan.

“It’s a time for introspection … I want the FAS to have also a fighting culture in which we have … the attitude that this is just not acceptable, and we will do everything in our power to fix it.”

In an interview with CNA, Tan said that the panel will be headed by former national head coach Jita Singh, with three FAS council members involved: ex-national footballer and SEA Games assistant chef de mission Lim Tong Hai, former national captain Razali Saad and Mr Harman Ali. 

The panel will be given four weeks, and their report will be discussed in-house for two weeks after, before recommendations are released publicly.

Tan stressed the importance of not throwing anybody under the bus, including the players.

“Some of the players here are good players. They had a bad tournament and a bad few matches. But I don’t want them to also walk away with the fact that the entire nation blames them for this,” he said.

“In spite of what has happened, I think some of the players will go on to be an ‘A’ national. But obviously, they too have to spend some time reflecting on this tournament, and improving themselves as we go forward.”