SINGAPORE: Singapore officially has a new football chief.
Forrest Li, the billionaire founder of tech giant Sea and owner of Singapore Premier League club Lion City Sailors, was elected Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president on Monday (Apr 28).
He succeeds Bernard Tan as the association's chief.
Li's slate of candidates was elected unopposed to a four-year term through to 2029 in a vote at an FAS extraordinary congress at the Raffles Town Club.
Tampines Rovers chairman Desmond Ong will serve as deputy president, and Hougang United chairman Bill Ng, national team captain Hariss Harun, Lion City Sailors general manager Tan Li Yu and Burnley FC chief of staff Sean Bai as vice-presidents.
The other three members of Li's team – Sailors executive director Bruce Liang, St Joseph's Institution International chairman Roy Quek and Tasek Academy and Social Services lead manager Arivan Shanmugaratnam – will serve as council members.
"Becoming your FAS council president today is a responsibility I do not take lightly. As council, our team's primary mission is to bring that joy and pride back to Singapore football," Li said following his election.
"I believe we can do a lot to raise the standard of the sport, and bring positive energy back to Singapore football.
"As your council, we will focus on building up the fundamentals of a healthy football ecosystem, in five areas: infrastructure, youth development, partnerships, league competitiveness and administrative effectiveness."
He added: "We have four years together to try to do things differently, and achieve what many think is impossible: revitalising Singapore football. We can do it."
Six candidates were also elected to the FAS council on an individual basis on Monday, including former national footballers Aide Iskandar and Aleksandar Duric.
The other candidates elected were Andy Tan, Dinesh Nair, Syed Faris and Yeong Sheau Shyan.
Yeong – the Sailors' head of women's football and a former women's national team player – was elected unopposed as she was the only woman who stood for election, and FAS requirements call for its council to include at least one woman.
Li announced his intention to run for the FAS presidency last month.
CNA previously reported that he would run unopposed after a candidate in former Balestier Khalsa vice-chairman Darwin Jalil's team was deemed ineligible to participate. This disqualified Mr Jalil’s slate from the election.
Li's team was the only one that qualified for the upcoming FAS election.
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