FAT members approve in principle revised rules
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The Football Association of Thailand still face a stumbling block on the number of voting members for the overdue presidential election even though the association's club members agreed to approve its revised rules in principle yesterday.
The association has yet to stage the election since Worawi Makudi’s two-year mandate expired in mid-June.
The outgoing president has always maintained that the amended rule needed to get an approval first before the poll to find the new head of Thai football can take place.
The atmosphere at the FAT’s extraordinary congress at the FAT headquarters in Nong Chok to approve its rules and bring them in line with Fifa’s new statutes was intense with the presence of more than 100 security officers.
There was initial tension when officials insisted they would allow only the representatives of club members, who had an authorisation letter issued by the FAT, to enter the compound.
That frustrated a group of 132 clubs led by Virach Chanpanich, one of the candidates running for the FAT presidency, who has opposed the move to adopt the revised rules, as the Sports Authority of Thailand previously stated that the letter need not be issued by the association.
After Virach and Thai Premier club Chon Buri FC’s vice president Annop Sintothong, one of the group’s other key figures, were invited for talks with Fifa representatives, the officials eventually agreed to let them in the meeting room.
However, the media was not permitted in the room when the poll was conducted.
The officials only revealed that after the voting a two-thirds majority of the total 163 clubs, who took part in the poll, approved the amendment to the regulations.
Virach, though, said more discussions were needed to find a solution on the number of members eligible to vote at the overdue election.
“We all only have a problem with the number of voting members. We want to know where the figure of 72 in the revised rules comes from.
We need to discuss it with our members to find the conclusion on this issue.”
