SINGAPORE — Moklas Ma’arof, the independent candidate who withdrew his nomination from the upcoming Football Association of Singapore (FAS) elections in a surprise development reported on Tuesday, has come out to clear the air over his decision.

The 62-year-old was one of 16 candidates who had applied to contest one of the six available individual council member slots.

It was then widely reported that Moklas was one of the independent candidates who had aligned himself with Team Game Changers, which is spearheaded by Hougang United chairman Bill Ng. Game Changers are one of two teams who are contesting the FAS’ first-ever election of office bearers on April 29.

The other, Team LKT, is led by former FAS vice-president Lim Kia Tong, who is also the current provisional council president.

Moklas, however, clarified yesterday that he was not aligned with Ng’s team. Instead, his intention was to contest the elections as a neutral independent candidate.

Explaining how the misunderstanding came about, the secretary of National Football League (NFL) Division Two club Kembangan United said: “I asked a friend of mine to help me submit my nomination form, but that person was apparently affiliated to Game Changers, and that’s why people associated me with the team.

“It’s my mistake for the misunderstanding, I don’t blame the person who helped me. My intention has always been to contest it as a neutral, independent candidate. But because of this (mix-up), a lot of rumours about me started to go around, and I didn’t like that. In the end, I decided that contesting in this election might just be too much of a hassle for me. I’m not young anymore, and I certainly can do without such a mess, so that’s why I withdrew.”

However, Moklas, who works as a draughtsman at a structure and civil engineering firm, says he is more than happy to provide his assistance to whichever team wins the elections, as he hopes to give back to local football.

“All I want to do is to serve football,” said Moklas, who has been involved in local grassroots football for over 30 years.

“I love the game, and I’ll be willing to help the new FAS council in whatever way I can, provided of course that they want my help. I just hope to be able to be more involved with the FAS in future so I can do my part to help Singapore football.”

While Moklas clarified that he had initially planned to stand as a neutral candidate before the pull-out, Team Game Changers said last night that they are still hopeful he will change his mind. “Moklas is standing as an independent council member (ICM), and he can decide whether to remain or to withdraw his candidacy,” said Team Game Changers in a statement yesterday.

“It’s a personal decision and we have to respect that. However, we are still hopeful that he will change his mind to withdraw, especially when all his close friends are in our team and these friends spoke with him last night. The team fully supported him when he wanted to stand as an ICM, and we still stand by him now.”

Moklas’ withdrawal from the elections was revealed on Tuesday after the FAS’ ad hoc electoral committee completed their requisite checks on all the candidates gunning for seats on the FAS council.

Four candidates out of a total of 34 — which comprise two nine-member slates and 16 independents — failed the checks.

The four candidates who did not pass the checks are former Fifa referee Lai Boon Teck, freelance writer and referee instructor Suresh Nair, Hougang United treasurer Jeffrey Sim, and businessman Kumar Appavoo.

Apart from Appavoo, the other three candidates have aligned themselves with Team Game Changers.

Candidates, however, can still appeal against the committee’s decision by tomorrow, and the final list of approved candidates will be sent to all FAS members at least 10 days before the April 29 elections.

Both Team LKT and Game Changers’ nine-member slates will be vying for the key positions of the FAS Council — president, deputy president, four vice-presidents and three council members.

A total of 44 FAS affiliates — including 23 National Football League (NFL) clubs, nine S.League sides and 12 others — will be eligible to vote at the elections. A minimum two-thirds of the total votes is needed for teams contesting in a slate to win, while independent candidates need only a simple majority to get voted in.

The election will be held at the Sport Singapore (Black Box) Auditorium at the Singapore Sports Hub.