Lion City Sailors owner Forrest Li has received yet another football boost.
Just hours after his Sailors roared into the Asian Champions League 2 finals, it has been revealed to TMSG that he will not have face a challenge in his quest to become the President of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS).
TMSG has learn that the slate led by former Balestier Khalsa vice-chairman Darwin Jalil has been deemed ineligible to participate in the upcoming elections for office bearers at the FAS Extraordinary Congress 2025 due to the ineligibility of one of the prospective candidates.
The ineligibility of one candidate as part of the slate has meant that the entire team will not be able to take part in the elections.
The team led by Darwin – christened “Football First” – had to submit replacements after two of its initial team members did not pass the integrity checks.
Subsequently, one of the replacement members put forth by the team has also since been rejected by the FAS Elections Appeals Committee, led by lawyer Michael Eu Hai Meng.
Earlier, two of the candidates who were part of the slate failed the integrity checks as it was discovered that they allegedly made false declarations about whether they had betting accounts with Singapore Pools.
It is unknown why the two candidates declared that they did not have betting accounts when they actually did.
The “Football First” team included members such as former International S Subramani, Woodlands Lions chairman R Vengadasalam and SGX senior executive Ion Danker, among others.
The FAS elections for office bearers will be held on 28 April, right smack in between the General Elections which will be held on 3 May.
Members of the football fraternity now wait for the FAS to release the names of the members of Forrest Li’s slate which will run football in Singapore from 2025 to 2029.
This story is developing.
MAIN PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES