SINGAPORE — Even as rumours continue to swirl around Football Association of Singapore (FAS) general secretary Winston Lee’s tenure at the association, the newly-elected council stressed on Tuesday (May 2) that Lee will continue to lead the organisation for now. 

Lee, 52, and three other individuals — Hougang United chairman Bill Ng and his wife Bonnie Wong, former FAS president Zainudin Nordin — were arrested two weeks ago after a police report lodged by Sport Singapore (SportSG) over the suspected misuse of funds at Tiong Bahru Football Club (TBFC), and an attempt by a senior club official to obstruct the completion of audits of the S.League’s sit-out clubs. They are assisting with the police probe, and are out on bail. 

“So far as the management of FAS is concerned, I’ve already affirmed it to the staff that Winston is still the leader,” said president Lim Kia Tong on Tuesday. “Of course ... he’ll definitely be psychologically affected by the investigations. But we have given him the necessary assurance and advice that he should continue to lead the FAS to the best of his abilities regardless of the emotional setback that he may be facing.”

FAS vice-president Edwin Tong added: “We’ll let the investigations play out and see what the facts are before making a decision. It may well be that for reasons unrelated to the investigation, we may want to review the position (of general-secretary).”

It has been a turbulent time for local football, with the April 29 elections marred by controversy surrounding TBFC’s S$500,000 donation to the Asean Football Federation (AFF) via the FAS. Following SportSg’s police report, the FAS office, and clubhouses of TBFC, Hougang United and Woodlands Wellington — which are all linked to businessman Ng, who led Team Game Changers in the elections — were raided by the Commercial Affairs Department. 

However, it is business as usual for the FAS, as eight of the 15 council members met staff over lunch on Tuesday to thank them for their hard work, and assure them of their futures in the association. 

Lim, a 64-year-old lawyer, told TODAY: “From feedback that we received, the staff had entertained some uncertainty about their future because they didn’t know which team would come in to manage the FAS.

“We also wanted to take this opportunity to show them that we recognise they play a very important pillar of the whole administration and management of football.”

Tong added that the new council would also look at ways to improve the working environment within the FAS.

“We sent a message to draw the line between us and the previous council. Even though some of us were from the previous council, the style of management, the transparency and openness will be there,” said Tong.

Fabian Chew, who works in the development and planning department, was happy with what he heard, as he said: “The council members were sincere and forthcoming in their sharing. We’re all looking forward to moving on (from the elections).”