SINGAPORE — Members of the local football fraternity have welcomed the measures announced yesterday by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) aimed at improving corporate governance within the association and its members.

Mr Khairil Zam, the secretary of NFL outfit Gymkhana FC, felt that the changes were long overdue, as he said: “The measures that the FAS has unveiled should have been put in place long ago, so it’s good that they are being implemented now.

“We all know what happened in the past, and hopefully now with the new procedures in place, the governance of the FAS is more robust and transparent, and history won’t repeat itself.

“It’s a good start to the new council’s tenure, and we as a club will support them in their efforts to improve governance in local football.”

Mr Albert Ng, chairman of NFL side Kembangan United, added: “I’m happy that the new council is getting things done so quickly, especially with regard to the aspect of governance. It’s important, because the FAS needs to regain the trust and confidence of all their stakeholders following the events that unfolded during the elections.

“They (the new council) are showing that they mean business and want to change things for the better, which is very encouraging for us as a club.”

An S.League club official who declined to be named said he was particularly pleased to see that the FAS had put in place policies which would prevent unilateral decisions being made about key issues in local football.

“I think one of the reasons why football here has stagnated or even gone backwards is because there were certain decisions being made that were not necessarily for the good of the game,” he said.

“Now, the important decisions will have to be made by the council or ex-co as a whole, so the chances of bad decisions being made are minimised. At the very least, the subject will be up for discussion and everyone in the council will be in the know and have a say in the matter.” NOAH TAN