Fly on Corporate Wall

Apirak Kosayodhin expressed concern a couple of years ago while he was chairman of Bangkok United Football Club that the booming Thai Premier League might go bust in the near future. He fretted about a “bubble”.
No bubble has popped so far, but the current showdown between Football Association of Thailand president Worawi Makudee and Newin Chidchob, who runs league champion Buriram PEA, certainly has it quivering.
Backed by members of his football club, Newin publicly questioned the transparency of the Premier League’s 2011 financial management. It turned out that Siam Sport Syndicate, which publishes sport dailies and magazines, was also in charge of the league’s finances and ownership rights.
The media syndicate is known for its relations with Worawi – and for owning SGC Mange Thong United.
Worawi responded by issuing reports on Premier League earnings and expenditures, not to mention its record Bt218.4-million income. TrueVisions and NBT paid the league Bt135.4 million for broadcasting rights and another Bt83 million came from key sponsors such as Yamaha and Advanced Info Service.
Spending on operations and marketing totalled Bt209.88 million, leaving Bt8.51 million in profit, which the league split with Siam Sport.
The revelations forced the syndicate to kiss the league goodbye, but Newin is pushing for more, with the support of 13 of the league’s 18 teams. He has asked to see the Football Association’s earlier contract with Siam Sport.
Of course Worawi has a trump card. Any team that wants to leave Thailand’s top football league is welcome to do so, he says. Plenty of second-tier clubs are eager to fill the gap.
“The clubs were informed about terms and regulations, including benefits, before joining the league,” he says.
On the other hand, if 13 of the clubs leave, the association couldn’t exactly maintain that this was the country’s “premier” league.
Would TrueVision keep paying Bt80 million if its viewers could no longer watch Buri Ram in action? Imagine the English Premier League without Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool!
This might be a good time for Worawi and Newin to give their heads a shake, if not each other’s hand. It’s hoped that there’s a better way to resolve the problems without breaking the league’s knees or even staining its reputation further.
Worawi has often hailed Thai soccer’s rapid growth amid strong support from both the public and private sectors. But now sponsors have every right to feel reluctant about backing the league, as long as confidence in management is low.
Maybe this is the controversy that will pop the bubble Apirak was worrying about.
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