SINGAPORE — The Football Association of Singapore’s (FAS) ad hoc electoral committee has completed their requisite checks on the candidates hoping to run for office in the upcoming FAS elections on April 29.

TODAY understands that out of the total of 34 candidates — comprising two nine-member slates and 16 independents — who were assessed, 29 passed the checks. Four candidates failed the checks, while one withdrew his candidacy.

The FAS’ first-ever election of office bearers will be contested between Team LKT and Team Game Changers. The former is led by former FAS vice-president Lim Kia Tong, while Hougang United chairman and businessman Bill Ng is spearheading Team Game Changers.

Sources have told TODAY that the whole of Team LKT passed the checks. This includes their nine-man slate and the six independent candidates aligned to the team.

However, three of the four independent candidates aligned to Team Game Changers did not clear the checks. They are former Fifa referee Lai Boon Teck, freelance writer and referee instructor Suresh Nair, and Hougang United treasurer Jeffrey Lim.

TODAY understands that Moklas Ma’arof, who is the secretary of National Football League Division Two club Kembangan United, and who was reportedly aligned to Team Game Changers, was the independent candidate who withdrew from running in the elections.

The fourth independent candidate who did not clear the checks was Kumar Appavoo. The 48-year-old is a businessman who has sponsored NFL club Gymkhana FC since last year. He also ran in the 2015 General Elections as a Reform Party candidate.

Responding to queries, a spokesman for Team Game Changers declined to identify the independent candidates aligned to them who did not clear the checks.

The spokesman told TODAY: “The entire slate of nine in the team has passed the checks.

“Of the six individual candidates, two of them have passed the checks, while two of them will be resubmitting their nomination forms after failing to pass on a technical error. We are still waiting to hear the results of the final two candidates.”

The three-man ad hoc electoral committee who conducted the checks is made up of K. Balla Chandran, who is the chairman of the FAS disciplinary committee, Jeffrey Beh (chairman of the FAS ethics committee) and J Balasubramaniam (deputy chairman, FAS Audit and Compliance committee).

The committee is in charge of performing integrity checks on each candidate running for a seat on the council. This includes scrutinising the candidates’ financial, legal and police records. The committee also had to assess whether the candidates would have any potential conflicts of interest if elected.

The committee beavered away from March 25 to April 1 as it examined the candidates’ suitability.

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

The two teams’ 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 in the milestone elections.

A minimum of 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.

THE TWO TEAMS

1) Team LKT is led by lawyer Lim Kia Tong who is contesting the presidency.

His slate of nine for the senior positions on the council:

* Deputy president: Bernard Tan, chief marketing officer at ST Engineering

* Vice presidents: Teo Hock Seng, Komoco Motors’ group managing director; Edwin Tong, a lawyer and Member of Parliament; S. Thavaneson, who runs a sports equipment business; Razali Saad, former national football captain

* Council members: Dr Dinesh Nair, a cardiologist; Forrest Li, founder of online gaming portal Garena; Darwin Jalil, team manager of NFL Div 1 club Eunos Crescent.

Six independent candidates aligned to Team LKT:

Former national skipper Lim Tong Hai, Pathlight School educator and woman footballer Sharda Parvin, People’s Association director Michael Foo, NFL Div 2 Admiralty CSC chairman Rizal Rasudin, Sembcorp Development CEO Kelvin Teo and coach of NFL Div 1 side Yishun Sentek Mariners Yakob Hashim.

2) Team Game Changers is led by businessman Bill Ng.

His slate of nine:

* Deputy president: Lau Kok Keng, lawyer.

* Vice presidents: Annabel Pennefather, lawyer; Dr Teoh Chin Sim, Team Singapore’s chief medical officer at 2015 SEA Games; Krishna Ramachandra, lawyer; and Zaki Ma’arof of NFL Div 2 side Kaki Bukit CSC

* Council members: Harman Ali, chief of NFL Div 2 club GFA Victoria, Samad Allapitchay, former national captain; and Christopher Wong, pilot.

Six independent candidates aligned to Team Game Changers:

Former Geylang International general manager Adrian Quek; former national goalkeeper Shahri Rahim, Moklas; Sim and Suresh.

The four non-aligned independent candidates:

Edward Liu (chairman of defunct S.League club Tanjong Pagar United), James Lim (general manager of an education compnay), Sebastian Tan (registered FAS referee) and Kumar