Bill Ng still eligible for FAS election: EC chairman
The ongoing police probe into alleged misuse of funds at amateur side Tiong Bahru FC has not affected the eligibility of their chairman Bill Ng in his bid to become Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president.
So said K. Bala Chandran, chairman of the ad hoc electoral committee (EC), in response to media queries yesterday.
"There is no change on the position of the electoral committee at this stage on the eligibility of Mr Ng," said Bala Chandran.
However, Bala Chandran added that the electoral committee has been updating world football governing body Fifa on the developments.
He added that only Fifa can decide if the election should be postponed.
He said: "There has been no communication between the EC and the police over the current police investigations into Mr Ng.
"There has been no material information shared by the police with the EC.
"There was information shared by Sport Singapore, but the EC was of the view that it was not sufficient to prompt a reassessment into the integrity of his eligibility, given that at this stage, the presumption of innocence applies until proven guilty.
"Fifa has been apprised of what has happened over the past one week or so. I have also forwarded some of the media reports made over the past one week to Fifa.
FIFA TO DECIDE
"I have - as the chairman of the EC - also given my views on, and the implications of, the police investigations in so far as the FAS elections are concerned.
"It is for Fifa to decide whether the election should proceed."
The discourse in the lead-up to Saturday's election has been dominated by Ng's revelation on April 13, of a $500,000 donation made from Tiong Bahru's funds.
Ng claimed he donated the money to the FAS at the request of FAS general secretary Winston Lee, insisting that he did not know what it was used for.
But Lee denied this and subsequently released documents which showed that Ng, also chairman of S.League side Hougang United, knew the donation was meant for regional football body Asean Football Federation.
As the squabble dominated headlines, national sports agency Sport Singapore made a police report last Wednesday night, after it received information which raised suspicions of misuse of Tiong Bahru FC's funds, as well as a purported attempt to delay completion of audits into the accounts of S.League sit-out clubs.
This led to a police probe the following day, with officers from the Commercial Affairs Department raiding the FAS office and the clubhouses of Tiong Bahru FC, Hougang United and Woodlands Wellington.
Ng, his wife Bonnie Wong, former FAS president Zainudin Nordin and Lee are all out on police bail, and are assisting the authorities with investigations.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
