Ng: Lee requested and facilitated donation, not ex-FAS president
Mr Bill Ng last night reiterated that it was Football Association of Singapore (FAS) general secretary Winston Lee, not former FAS president Zainudin Nordin, who requested and facilitated the donation for the Asean Football Federation's (AFF) Football Management System (FMS).
In a rebuttal to Mr Lee's release of documents to show that Mr Ng knew what the $500,000 donation was meant for, the FAS presidential hopeful asserted that Mr Lee had "conveniently forgotten the sequence of events which led to the donation".
"It was Lee who met me on multiple occasions in 2014 to seek the donations from TBFC for an FMS to be developed for the benefit of Singapore football and Asean football," he said.
"At no point during these meetings was 'a proposal' ever presented. What was presented by Lee, however, was a letter which he had prepared, which he then directed me to reproduce using the TBFC letterhead to address to Zainudin, confirming the 'request to donate'."
Mr Ng heads the Game Changers team running in the April 29 FAS election against Team LKT led by Mr Lim Kia Tong, a former FAS vice-president who has asserted that he was not made aware of such a donation during his term of office.
Ng claims to have donated some $850,000 to the FAS to develop local football, while the FAS says it had received only $715,000.
That issue has yet to be dealt with, in light of the $500,000 that has gone into AFF coffers with no mark made on the FAS annual reports suggesting so.
Mr Ng said in his statement: "When TBFC agreed to Lee's request for a donation, it was strictly on the basis that the money was to be used to develop a system which would benefit Singapore Football, especially our local clubs.
"(He) assured me this was the case. Lee and the former Council still owes the Singapore Football fraternity answers to these questions," said Mr Ng, who listed seven issues of contention he wants the FAS and Lee to address.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
