FAS elections to be held on April 28
The election to decide the leaders of Singapore football will be held on April 28, with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announcing the date of its extraordinary congress in a press statement on March 17.
The FAS' annual congress usually takes place in the third quarter of the year.
The national sports association said that the election of its council members will be carried out in two ways: A slate basis and on an individual basis.
In the first, a team comprising nine candidates for the posts of the president, deputy president, four vice-presidents and three council members are proposed and elected en bloc.
For the individual basis, the remaining six council members will be proposed and elected individually. The FAS council shall consist of at least one female member.
According to the FAS, this is the schedule for the elections: March 17: Nominations open March 31: Deadline for nomination of candidates to FAS general secretariat April 10: Deadline for submission of replacement of candidates April 18: Announcement of candidates qualified to contest April 28: FAS extraordinary congress
The Straits Times reported on Feb 17 that tech billionaire Forrest Li, who is the chairman of Singapore Premier League (SPL) club Lion City Sailors, is "seriously considering" a bid for the FAS presidency.
Li, 47, is the founder of homegrown tech firm Sea Limited and reportedly has a net worth of US$8.4 billion (S$11.3 billion). He ranked 12th on Forbes' Singapore 50 richest list in 2024. New York Stock Exchange-listed Sea Limited owns e-commerce platform Shopee and also operates businesses in gaming and digital finance.
A spokesman for Li said then: "Forrest received some suggestions from the fraternity to step up for the presidency at the FAS elections this year. Many feel he can help improve Singapore football. I can confirm he is seriously considering running for the role of president."
Former Woodlands Wellington general manager R. Vengadasalam is also one of the names that could feature in the elections.
On Feb 12, the veteran Singaporean football official took to Facebook to share what appeared to be a campaign logo with the slogan "Football First, for a better tomorrow". When approached for comment then, he told ST that he wants "Singapore football to improve drastically and to do that, we need to start with revamping the foundation such as schools football".
According to the FAS Constitution, a candidate for the office of the president must have played an active role in association football (as board member, committee member, or an official within Fifa, a confederation, an association or an ordinary member of FAS) for two of the last five years before being proposed as a candidate.
Incumbent FAS chief Bernard Tan was elected for the remainder of the 2022-2025 term at the FAS' annual congress in September 2023.
Having previously served as vice-president (from 2013) and deputy president (from 2017), Tan became acting president in September 2022 after then president Lim Kia Tong died.
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