In a shocking revelation made by the Straits Times in a story published on 15 July, it has been revealed that players from Warriors FC only received their salaries from May about two weeks ago.
According to the report, even non-playing staff like the Centres of Excellence youth coaches have also been on the receiving end of the late payments.
While the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) said that they were gravely concerned by what was happening at the Warriors, no one from the club – including general manager Paul Poh responded to the queries submitted by Straits Times.
Poh only said the club was hoping to meet the authorities to discuss ongoing matters.
The club’s chairman Philip Lam was also not contactable for the story.
There are a few disturbing points in the story, as follows:
- The club received an incoming private sponsor which wanted more say in the running of the club. The sponsor was not named. How is this possible from a governance perspective?
- The Warriors FC signed Borussia Dortmund on a five-year deal for an undisclosed sum and would lend their expertise to local coaches. However, the coached from the German club have only been to Singapore once for about a week, over the past year. Why is this so?
- There was an increase of fees for the (former) Kids Warriors programme from $150 to $450 per month after the partnership with Borussia Dortmund. What was the justification?
- Two months after failing to pay players on time in 2018, the Warriors opened a Karaoke outlet. How is this justifiable?
This is not the first time that Warriors FC have made the news for the wrong reasons. Apart from late salary payments, the club has also been stopped from making any foreign hires for violating the Employment Act.
The football fraternity needs some answers and it needs to come quickly, since the subsidies being provided to the Singapore Premier League clubs are technically taxpayers’ funds.
Photos: FAS