SINGAPORE – The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is searching for a new secretary-general after announcing on July 5 that Yazeen Bukhari will step down from his post on September 30 after more than six years as president.
The secretary-general is the chief executive of the FAS secretariat and Yazeen, 46, was the first key hire by the council, headed by the late former chairman Lim Kia Tong, who was elected in April 2017.
“It has been an honour to lead the organisation given the magnitude and importance of the role, but after seven years away from my family I have made the difficult decision to leave the organisation,” Yazeen, whose family lives in Malaysia, said in a press statement.
“I believe the time is right for a change in leadership in the administration. Over the past two years, many initiatives have started to take shape and I am confident that with the support of all stakeholders, these plans will achieve the desired results.”
He also thanked current and former Council members, clubs, government partners, fans, volunteers, players and colleagues for their support.
A former referee, Yazeen has previously held various roles in the sports world.
He previously served as general manager of the Singapore Athletics Federation, assistant director of Sport Singapore and head of development and planning at the FAS before joining the Asian Football Confederation, where he headed the planning and strategy department.
In August 2017, he returned as deputy secretary-general of the FAS, and took up his current role in September 2018 after his predecessor, Winston Lee, resigned.
In a press statement, FAS said Yazeen played a key role in guiding the association in launching several developments in local football, including the rebranding of the Singapore Premier League in 2018, the “Unleash the Roar! (UTR)” national project in 2021 and the introduction of the league’s Video Assistant Referee system.
He was also instrumental in the rapid response to support the football world during the COVID-19 pandemic and oversaw increased investment in women’s football, the FAS added.
FAS president Bernard Tan said Yazeen was “a dedicated leader within the organisation and his departure is a great loss for Singapore football”.
“However, we respect his wish to prioritise his family after seven years at FAS and wish him the best in his future endeavours,” he added.
Former national team defender Bayhakki Kaizan, who will retire in 2022 and take up a management position at FAS where he is now head of planning and special projects, said he was grateful to Yazeen for teaching him about football management.
Calling him a “proactive leader”, Bai Hakki added: “He had confidence in me and allowed me to consider and implement projects to improve Singapore football.”
As FAS searches for a new leader, former council member Yaacob Hashim (2017-2021) said he hopes the next hire will be “someone who has technical knowledge but is also a strong leader.”
The former international goalkeeper, who gave Yazeen a rating of four out of 10, added: “He has contributed to our failure. From the technical staff, the coaches, the staff hired, not many right decisions have been made, look at the results. You can see where we are in football now.”
Singapore football has been in a slump for the past decade. At the 2023 Southeast Asian Games, the U-22 team failed to win in four matches, finishing bottom of Group B and losing in the group stage for the fifth time in a row. A 7-0 thrashing by Malaysia was Singapore’s worst defeat since 1971, sparking anger among fans.
At the senior level, four-time ASEAN champions Singapore have lagged behind countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia in recent years. Since last winning the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Championship in 2012, the team has been eliminated in the group stage in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2022.
Under the guidance of new national team coach Tsutomu Ogura, the Lions recently finished bottom of Group C, which also included South Korea, China and Thailand, in the second round of Asian qualifiers for the World Cup, with one draw and five losses.
They will face their next test in the AFF Championship, which runs from November 23 to December 21.
