Affiliates will be consulted
FAS says members must submit suggestions for proposed constitution by Friday
The Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) move to call for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EOGM) on Nov 7 has earned the ire of some of their affiliates.
They expressed frustration over a lack of consultation before setting the date to decide on FAS constitutional amendments that will change the face of football here.
Responding yesterday, FAS vice president Lim Kia Tong asserted that affiliates will indeed be consulted - after they submit their suggestions for the proposed constitution.
"It has always been our intention to engage and consult with members, and that can only happen after we first circulate the draft proposal when calling for the EOGM, and then starting the discussion with our members after collating all proposed suggestions," he said.
DEADLINE
The FAS deadline for affiliates to suggest any amendments to the proposed FAS constitution is Friday.
"This (affiliates' suggestions) will form the basis for any further discussions on the issue, and will ensure that the final proposed document is one that the community has agreed upon. The plan has also been to have one-to-one sessions with all parties that have submitted feedback and to have an open session with those who wish further clarification before the EOGM," said Lim.
"This will allow for the smooth conduct of the EOGM when the revised constitution is considered."
The New Paper understands that only two parties, S.League club Hougang United and Gymkhana FC of the Island Wide League, had submitted counter-proposals to FAS's new constitution, with the latter submitting a document mooting 40 changes to the proposed constitutional amendments ahead of FAS's Sept 24 Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The FAS removed voting from the AGM agenda then, saying that more consultation with members was needed before the amendments were put to a vote.
At the time, Gymkhana raised several questions through an impromptu dialogue with Fifa manager of member associations, Luca Nicola, and it was the absence of action after that discussion that saw the FAS call for the EOGM.
"In the two weeks after the AGM, we did not receive any requests for further amendments to what was discussed that day hence our decision to go ahead with calling for the EOGM to pass the new constitution, in which we had incorporated members' inputs that were deemed fair, justifiable and aligned to Fifa guidelines," said Lim.
While Hougang revealed that they have no further amendments to propose ahead of the EOGM, the FAS will receive at least one - from Gymkhana.
They will drop some from the previous list of 40 amendments suggested, including the change to the criteria for those who wish to contest the presidential election - to include those who have served as S.League chairmen in the past.
"After the explanation by (Nicola) we felt that there was fair enough consideration provided, but we will be pressing on with a few others," said Gymkhana representative Alfred Dodwell.
"The deadline imposed is too tight to meet. It seems the FAS is making it needlessly cumbersome for us, but we will endeavour to put our new proposal together by Friday."
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