SINGAPORE – Preparations for the 2023 SEA Games were in disarray before the Singapore Under-22 football team set foot in Phnom Penh, owing to a late attempt by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to reshuffle their backroom staff.
Ten days before kick-off, head coach Philippe Aw was allegedly told by an FAS executive committee (exco) member that technical director Michael Browne would take over the training and selection of the squad.
The former was unhappy about ceding control and reportedly walked out – he eventually stayed in charge for the tournament.
The FAS exco comprises acting president Bernard Tan and vice-presidents S. Thavaneson, Teo Hock Seng, Razali Saad and Ben Teng.
Singapore went on to finish last in Group B, their disastrous campaign compounded by a 7-0 defeat by Malaysia as the Young Lions exited at the group stage for a fifth consecutive Games.
This sequence of events, as well as other issues in the build-up to the Games in May, were among the points raised in two reports – seen by The Straits Times – from members of the review panel that was formed after the SEA Games.
It is headed by former national coach Jita Singh and includes Razali and FAS council members Lim Tong Hai and Harman Ali.
The panel members have submitted their individual reports and the FAS council is set to meet and discuss the recommendations and findings before a press conference this week.
When contacted on Saturday, Tan declined to comment if he or any FAS committee member had instructed Browne to take over from Aw.
On the reports, Tan said: “Discussions in the FAS remain confidential. The public should wait for the FAS release, and to use the same release we make on the report.
“The observations in the reports are subject to fact-checking and corroboration, and this is still in the process of being done. The conclusions drawn from this (initial) report may not be accurate.”
Following the dismal showing in Cambodia, on May 18 – a day after the Games ended – Aw was granted a leave of absence from the Young Lions. He is also the FAS head of methodology and assistant technical director and is involved with the Singapore Football Academy under the Unleash the Roar! national project.
He was replaced by Fadzuhasny Juraimi and Koichiro Iizuka, who are overseeing the Young Lions in the Singapore Premier League.
After interviews with Aw, FAS general secretary Yazeen Buhari, senior head of department Visakan Subramanian, and players, the reports also raised another point on Singapore’s poor preparations for the March 24-26 Merlion Cup, a friendly tournament that served as a SEA Games tune-up.
The Young Lions lost to their U-22 counterparts from Hong Kong (1-0) and Cambodia (2-1).
The reports highlighted that while the visiting teams stayed in hotels, the Singapore squad did not, owing to alleged budget constraints.
This led to players arriving at different times at the Jalan Besar Stadium, a lack of team cohesion and a feeling among the players that no one was taking the Merlion Cup and SEA Games preparations seriously.
With Singapore football fans baying for blood, Tan vowed after the Games that “tough questions will be asked” as the FAS embarked on a review.
He also announced later that the Young Lions will not play in any international tournaments pending the review. This leaves their Asian Games participation in September in limbo and no coach has been appointed for the competition.
