SINGAPORE – As independent candidates at the upcoming Football Association of Singapore (FAS) elections who are not aligned to either Team LKT or Team Game Changers, both James Lim and Sebastian Tan believe they will be best placed to provide a form of checks and balance if they are voted into the FAS council.

That was one of the key messages that both Lim and Tan were keen to impress on the FAS affiliates voting in Saturday’s polls during their joint-press conference at The Arena on Tuesday (April 25), where they unveiled their plans for local football.

The two of them, along with businessman Kumar Appavoo and Tanjong Pagar United chairman Edward Liu, are the only independent candidates at this elections.

The remaining 10 individual candidates are either aligned to Team LKT or Game Changers.

And Tan, a registered referee who is a deputy director with the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), was keen to emphasise the importance of having a member in the council who is not part of either slate.

“Currently, as you can see from recent events, there is clearly insufficient checks and balances in the FAS,” said Tan, referring to Tiong Bahru FC’s S$500,000 donation to the Asean Football Federation’s Football Management System via the FAS, which FAS Council members said they were completely in the dark over.

Tan, who also has 23 years of experience in law enforcement, added: “Given my background (as a law enforcement officer), I have zero tolerance for wrong-doing.

“I come with no baggage as well, so I’m not afraid to ask the hard questions if elected into the council. I’m not beholden to either of the two teams who are contesting, and I’ll make sure that whichever team wins the election will keep their promises.”

Agreeing, Lim, who is a general manager of an education company, and a diehard Woodlands Wellington fan, added: “If you allow the FAS to be dominated by one team, then you’ll have a council with only one voice. The affiliates need a voice, and we hope to be that voice for them.”

However, both Lim and Tan also stressed that, if elected, they were open to working with the winning team, as long as their vision and plans are for the good of Singapore football.

Said Tan: “From their manifestos, we can see that both sides have good ideas. If we perceive these ideas to be good for the interest of football, then of course we’ll give it our full support.”

Tan also highlighted a greater need for the FAS to deeply engage their affiliates, and said that he would gladly take on the role as the bridge between the two.

“There is a need for open communications between the FAS and the affiliates, and I wants to be that bridge between them,” said Tan.

“The FAS needs to have regular meetings with the clubs, and if budget allows it, have dedicated staff for the affiliates, especially for the NFL clubs.

“So if elected, the first thing that I’ll do is to start a conversation with the affiliates and find out what problems they have and work with them to solve it.

“We need to be truly interested to work with them, and for them.”

One of the key things Lim said he will push for if elected into the council is better welfare and job security for local players and coaches.

“We want to see a FAS that is more focused on Singapore football, and one that will look after the players and coaches,” said Lim.

“We cannot have players on 11-month contracts and expect them to give their best when they could be out of a job at the end of the season. It’s not fair to them.

“I understand the clubs may not have the budget, and so we will find ways to see that the clubs can be better supported.

“Ideally, all the S.League clubs should have a three-year budget so they can plan ahead.”

Lim explained that one of the ways to strengthen the S.League’s financial muscle is to commercialise the league.

“The league can be privatised, but the clubs can remain what they are so they can continue receiving funding from the Tote Board while also generating revenue from jackpot operations,” he said.

“However, the league itself can be privatised so people can invest in it and hopefully through this, the standard of the league will improve.”

Lim however, said that the most urgent area of the FAS that needs to be fixed right now is its governance.

“It (governance) has to be tightened. You can have all the vision and dreams, but if your organisation is sick, and there are a lot of gaps and lapses, nothing can happen,” said Lim.

“We must first fix the system and ensure that the administration put in place is right before we can talk about other plans.”