Football Association of Singapore chief Bernard Tan will not seek re-election

Football Association of Singapore president Bernard Tan noted that “the good has outweighed the bad” during his tenure. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI

SINGAPORE – Singapore football will have a new leader on April 28, after Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president Bernard Tan announced that he will not be contesting for a second term at the elections.

In an interview with The Straits Times at the Singapore Island Country Club on March 29, the outgoing chief apologised to “supporters and affiliates who are disappointed by my decision”, adding that he is looking forward to spending more time with his family.

The 58-year-old, who is country president of Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas in Singapore, said: “Being the current president, I feel the weight of responsibility and obligation to Singapore football and to see through many things. Moreover, football has been a part of me for some time, so letting it all go is not so easy.

“But I’ve also said in past interviews that I will do what’s good for Singapore football first, and not for me. I’m not married to the job, so if someone who is able comes along and wants to take over, I’m happy to allow that to happen.

“I remain a fan of Singapore football and I am prepared to remain connected and to serve if the service is something that is meaningful and wanted. But for this round, it will not be as president of the FAS, and I won’t be contesting at all (even as an individual council member).”

Tan’s decision will pave the way for presidential hopeful Forrest Li. The tech billionaire, who is the founder of home-grown tech firm Sea Limited, officially threw his hat into the ring for the post on March 17, when nominations opened.

Former Woodlands Wellington general manager R. Vengadasalam has also been touted as one who could feature in the elections.

While Tan refused to comment on specific candidates to avoid influencing the elections, he said: “We need a huge injection of resources, and I know one of the candidates that’s running for the election has promised this to happen. And I want to free the way for the FAS affiliates to decide if that’s the road they want to take.”

Having previously served as FAS vice-president (from 2013) and deputy president (from 2017), Tan became its acting president in September 2022 after then president Lim Kia Tong died. He was elected for the remainder of the 2022-2025 term at the FAS’ annual congress in September 2023.

While he has been much vilified on social media after a run of poor results by the national men’s and women’s teams – who are ranked 160th and 139th respectively – Tan noted that “the good has outweighed the bad” during his tenure.

He said that he would “hold my head high along with the executive committee and present council, for laying the foundation for a brighter future for Singapore football”.

He added that he will continue to work on the Brisbane Roar women’s tour of Singapore, the Lion City Cup and the line-up for next season’s Singapore Premier League (SPL) until the end of his term.

As he bids farewell to Singapore football, Tan had a fiery response to his critics, adding: “Everyone who’s involved in football thinks they are a football genius. They have an opinion, they share it freely.

“The negative ones carry much more traction than the positive ones, and this is because they generate more clicks. This is the state of our world.

“While constructive criticism is fair game, what should be eliminated are the uncouth, personal attacks that amount to harassment and libel. No administrator, coach, player or referee sets out to be maligned and no one in football deserves this treatment.”

Tan felt that he is leaving both national teams “in a better state”, after firing former Lions coach Takayuki Nishigaya before the end of his contract and replacing him with Tsutomu Ogura, who led the team to the Asean Football Federation Championship semi-finals in 2024. The women’s team, under Karim Bencherifa, have also qualified for the 2025 Asean Women’s Championship.

Crediting Mr Edwin Tong and Mr Eric Chua, Minister and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth respectively, and FAS technical director Michael Browne, Tan also pointed to the “undeniable” structural changes to the local youth set-up as a positive.

He said: “Along with the Unleash The Roar! project, we now have scholarships for kids, the National Development Centre for boys and girls, and a tremendously oversubscribed Singapore Youth League. This was not in existence when this council took over.”

Noting that the SPL is “more competitive”, Tan also added that the FAS has “moved past the difficulty of naturalising players” by having Japan-born Kyoga Nakamura play for the Lions, while steps are being taken to “see how we can advance (England-born) Perry Ng’s hopes of playing for Singapore”.

There were also low moments during his tenure, such as the 7-0 mauling by Causeway rivals Malaysia at the 2023 SEA Games.

Days after the defeat, Tan posted a terse response to a critic who commented on his Instagram account, asking the latter to “abuse me face to face” – Tan eventually issued an apology on social media.

Through the tough times, he learnt how running local football requires full-time commitment, that the FAS president has to be prepared to face the heat and how important it is to unite the community. These lessons are also what he will share with his successor.

He said: “The FAS elections should not distract us from the goal of football remaining united as a community. Once it is over, we should unite.

“We need to find ways to harness all the energies and be inclusive to move forward.

“Football in Singapore is too small for us to be divided.”

David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.

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