Virat seeks to put an end to 'murky' FA regime
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Virat Chanpanich refuses to rule out running for the post of the Football Association of Thailand president again when incumbent Worawi Makudi's third term ends this year.
Former national team manager Virat lost out to Worawi last time in controversial circumstances after the latter called off the initial election before eventually securing enough votes to win his third straight twoyear term in the post he has held since 2007.
Worawi’s reign has drawn much criticism for the series of poor performances by the national team on the international stage, with the 3-2 aggregate loss to Singapore in the final of the Asean Championship last month being the latest failure.
Virat, popularly known as Big Krong, confirmed that he would run for the FA presidency if he gained the backing of the member clubs.
“Last time, I had talks with the members, and they asked me to become their representative. This time, they have not approached me yet. But, they may ask me to run in the election once again because the current regime has made many mistakes and their dealings lack transparency. We need a more professional management of football affairs.”
Virat said he also wants to bring back smiles to the faces of longsuffering Thai fans.
“I worked for the association for 16 years, during which our fans were very proud of the team. Back then, we were ranked among the top five in Asia. But the current squad has plummeted to beyond the top 100.
“We won the SEA Games title five times when I was in charge of the team, plus a hattrick of Tiger Cup [Asean Championship] trophies. Each success made the fans happy and we won more games than we lost,” said Virat.
