SINGAPORE - Former national striker V. Selvaraj has resigned as coach of struggling S-League side Garena Young Lions.

His decision to quit after eight games was announced by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) on Wednesday (May 17). The FAS said Selvaraj had resigned owing to family reasons.

National youth teams head coach Richard Tardy will lead the Young Lions, who are essentially the Republic's Under-22 SEA Games team, until the conclusion of their SEA Games campaign in August.

Selvaraj said in a statement: "As much as I really enjoy working with the FAS management, technical colleagues including technical director Michel Sablon, national youth teams head coach Richard Tardy and other backroom staff, as well as this team of young boys, I have decided, after much consideration, to step down due to family reasons. With the continued support of the FAS and our stakeholders, I am confident that Richard will lead this team to greater heights."

The team are stranded at the bottom of the nine-team table with just one point after eight games, three points adrift of eighth-placed Brunei DPMM. Their solitary point came in a 0-0 draw against the Bruneian outfit.

Frenchman Tardy had previously coached the national youth teams of his homeland as well as Rwanda, whom he led to the Under-17 World Cup in 2011. He will also be leading the SEA Games team in Kuala Lumpur.

The 66-year-old said: "We are saddened by Selvaraj's decision to step down from his position but we respect his decision - especially in view of his reasons. He has been a good colleague, both on and off the field, and I personally hope that he will make a return to the coaching fraternity soon.

"Selvaraj and the Garena Young Lions backroom setup have done a good job in preparing our boys for the upcoming SEA Games competition and going forward, I will work closely with the rest of the coaching staff as we embark on the final phase of our ongoing preparations for the biennial competition."