SINGAPORE — National assistant football coach Fandi Ahmad’s future remains in the air despite a final meeting with the Football Association of Singapore yesterday.

TODAY understands that both parties met to iron out issues surrounding his contract extension but the 54-year-old former national captain did not make a decision on his future by the end of the meeting.

It is understood that Fandi wants to assemble a team of age-group players to work towards qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, but has not yet been given the green light to do so by the FAS, and this appears to be the main point of contention between the two parties.

In response to queries, the FAS issued the same statement that it had sent out on Wednesday. “The FAS has been in talks with Fandi for several months. We see Fandi continuing to play an important and significant role in Singapore football but it is premature to comment as our talks are still ongoing.”

“As such, contractual details remain confidential. We will make an announcement once there is something conclusive to announce.”

Fandi could not be reached for comment yesterday. However, according to several sources, Fandi, whose contract with the FAS runs out at the end of November, has been linked with the head coach position at Malaysian Super League side Pahang FA, who are currently bottom of the table, and has to give an answer to their offer by today.

Fandi enjoyed a successful playing stint with Pahang in the early 1990s, helping the side to win the Malaysian League and the Malaysia Cup in 1992.

Football website FourFourTwo reported on Wednesday that Pahang general-secretary Fuz Zemi Ibrahim has denied that the club has made an offer to Fandi. “The secretariat have not been in contact with Fandi and no such discussions have taken place at club level yet,” he said.

Fandi’s most recent coaching achievement at club level was to lead the now-defunct LionsXII to victory in the Malaysian FA Cup last year. He was one of the main contenders to replace Bernd Stange as national coach, but the FAS eventually turned to his former national team-mate V Sundramoorthy for the role, with Fandi becoming Sundram’s assistant. NOAH TAN