Just months after election, FAS Council member lashes out, mulls over exit
FAS Council member Yakob Hashim could quit the national sports association as early as next month. Photo: Yishun Sentek Mariners / Facebook
SINGAPORE – Just eight months after a fiercely-contested election, a Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Council member could quit in a huff, over unhappiness at the state of affairs.
Mr Yakob Hashim, a former national goalkeeper, told TODAY on Thursday (Jan 4) that he was contemplating resigning from the Council because “many things were not transparent” at the association.
Mr Yacob, who is the coach of National Football League (NFL) Division 1 club Yishun Sentek Mariners, also took issue with how the FAS is handling its probe into a brawl in November last year between his club and Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association (Safsa). He said he will wait for the results of the FAS disciplinary hearing into the matter, which are expected next week, before making up his mind whether to resign.
On Nov 12 last year, a top of the table clash between Sentek Mariners and Safsa at the Jalan Besar Stadium descended into a mass brawl involving players and officials, with the police eventually called in.
In early December, the FAS appointed an independent panel consisting of two senior lawyers to investigate the incident. This was due to the nature of the disciplinary case, and also because the coach of Sentek Mariners was an FAS Council member, said FAS at the time without naming Mr Yakob.
The FAS Disciplinary Committee convened twice last month to hear the case, with a further hearing held on Thursday night.
Writing on Facebook on Wednesday, Mr Yakob appeared to lash out at the FAS while responding to a post by Woodlands Wellington fan James Lim — who ran unsuccessfully for a position on the Council as an independent candidate — criticising the sport’s leaders.
Mr Yakob wrote: “I’m walking out of football for the same reason. We have passion for the game but one mistake, they are going all out to kill you.”
Speaking to TODAY on Thursday, he admitted that he was thinking of quitting “partly” because of the investigation into the brawl. Contrary to FAS’ assertion, he insisted that there was no conflict of interest on his part. “I think it’s something that’s not right, I’m not being charged, it’s the club that’s being charged, where is the conflict of interest?” he said.
Ahead of the FAS’ inaugural election in April last year, the oft-neglected NFL clubs had emerged as an important constituency for candidates to woo as they made up 23 of the 44 FAS affiliates eligible to vote in the polls.
Mr Lim Kia Tong, who is now FAS president, had roped in three NFL representatives, including Mr Yakob, for his 15-man team which stood against a slate fielded by Hougang United Football Club chairman Bill Ng.
While the NFL clubs are getting seed money of S$8,500 each, group insurance, and a league sponsorship, Mr Yakob said not enough had been done. “We’ve not been taken care of for many years, and now the first thing when anything happens is they want to get rid of you rather than give you a chance,” he said. “I’m doing this out of frustration… we’re not going anywhere. There’s only improvement for this year, but in the past years… most of the teams are not getting paid, and whatever they’re paid is not enough to run the club.”
Regardless whether he is staying on the FAS Council, Mr Yakob said he will resign from his post at Sentek Mariners.
Speaking to TODAY, veteran football official R Vengadasalam, who is a long-time friend of Mr Yakob, said he was trying to talk him out of leaving the football scene. “This is a knee-jerk reaction, I spoke to him and told him there’s a lot more that he can contribute to football in Singapore,” said Mr Vengadasalam. “Maybe he needs to calm down a bit and try to move forward (from this).”
