SINGAPORE: No matter who wins the upcoming Football Association of Singapore (FAS) elections on Apr 29, they will face the difficult task of improving the state of local football, according to Kadir Yahaya, the former coach of Singapore’s bronze medal-winning Youth Olympic Games team.
Speaking to Channel NewsAsia, the 1994 Malaysia Cup winner highlighted a number of issues that currently plague Singapore football, and which the incoming FAS president will have to address in order to revive the local scene.
The former national right-back believes the starting point has to be the welfare of professional players. “What makes a league successful is the players, and what causes its downfall is players as well. If you have good players, fans will pay to come down and watch games.”
He added: “But here in Singapore, you have players that are driving with Uber to supplement their income, some are doing other jobs on the side and so on. So who is taking care of these players? Who is helping them? There are players who got their contracts terminated and no one is representing them. There is also no independent body to help them in contractual disputes.
“Job security is important in my opinion. How can you justify professional players getting just one-year contracts, when FAS staff are getting secure contracts and are paid even more than the players themselves? That I cannot accept.
“If you don’t protect the players, they’ll eventually say: ‘I don’t want to play football … I cannot take football as a career.’”
PLAYERS NEED MORE SUPPORT
Kadir’s comments come in the wake of a Channel NewsAsia report which highlighted that most S.League players are on salaries of less than S$3,000 a month and face uncertainty about having their contracts renewed.
A further issue mentioned by players Channel NewsAsia spoke to is that bonuses have diminished in recent years, which has had a significant impact on their income. Without incentives and bonuses to recognise the efforts of long-serving players, it is hard for them to motivate themselves to do well.
“For the national team players, once they’ve served the country for 10 years, what do they get? What then can a national player who plays in the S.League look forward to when they retire? There’s nothing for them,” said Kadir, who believes that more should be done to reward their efforts.
“There needs to be something to recognise their contributions, such as a testimonial match for them, an amount of money set aside for them as a bonus, even a job offer to work in FAS - youth development for instance - once they retire from their playing careers."
Senior players, too, need financial advice and guidance on preparing for when their playing careers are over, he added.
SQUANDERED YOUTH TALENT
As part of player development, career mentorship is especially important at youth level - another area Kadir was keen to point out.
“Young players have a lot of problems now, because the youth of this generation are different. The current crop are more exposed to social life, they want to smoke and enjoy themselves. Their mentality now is different,” said the Saint Joseph’s Institution football coach.
“At their age, they should be focusing on improving their game but it’s very difficult. They’ve got social pressure, peer pressure, academic pressure and even pressure from their own coaches. Helping these boys cope is a very important issue to solve.”
To that end, man-management is something the FAS will have to focus on. “Youth coaches these days must be more holistic, be more of a mentor and become that fatherly figure of guidance,” said Kadir. “They should get to know more about the young players, get to know their school results, and even engage more with their parents and school teachers. After training, coaches can’t simply think: 'Oh, I’m just a coach' and everything else is not their problem. That shouldn’t be the way.”
Looking back on some of his former charges, the 49-year-old believes that more could have been done by the FAS to nurture their abilities. “It is a sad moment for me when I read about how some of (the YOG batch) are doing right now. They really had good potential.”
The 2010 YOG bronze-winning team. (Photo: FAS Facebook page)
Some of his YOG-bronze winning players could have fulfilled their initial promise, had they been consistently counselled in their formative years. “It is sad when I read about young players who have quit the game, like Jeffrey (Lightfoot) who used to be a very good defender,” he said.
He also named another player who could have gone far, had he not fallen foul of the law. “You also have Hanafi Akbar, who was the most talented player of the lot. I’ve never seen a youngster like him who was very skilled, but again, there was no guidance for him.”
“I can tell you, had he been on the right track, he could’ve become one of the star players for Singapore," said Kadir of the young playmaker, who was arrested in 2015 for drug offences. "I hope he (Hanafi) can someday get back to football, which I still think is his first love. If he keeps his focus, I’m sure he will do well, if he chooses to come back.”
PUBLIC DEBATE ON FAS ELECTIONS
On the upcoming elections, Kadir said: “It’s good that there is the elections coming up for the FAS presidency. Each candidate has his own plans to improve football."
"But why don’t we have a live debate where each of them lays out their manifestos and policies to improve the local game?” suggested Kadir, who thinks that such transparency would benefit the local game. “It can be where stakeholders can gather - be it players, fans and even the general public – and question the candidates on their plans to help Singapore football.
“The candidates cannot be hiding or simply fight it out in the papers. They have to realise it’s not just about them and they’d have to lay it out on the table. Livelihoods are affected here, as professional players sacrifice their futures just to play the game for a living. These players are people like you and me too, who’s trying to make ends meet, with families, children and mouths to feed.”
He added: “I hope that these candidates can come out in an open and public forum where they can be held accountable for their policies that they’d be hoping to carry out. That way, those who are voting can make an informed choice.”
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...al-game-will-improve-former-lion/3628840.html
