SINGAPORE - National sports agency SportSG has confirmed that, starting from this financial year in April, it will administer the Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) funding from the Tote Board.
In a reply to a media query, SportSG's director of NSA (National Sports Association) partnership Lenard Pattiselanno said: "Sport Singapore is pleased that Tote Board will continue to support the Football Association of Singapore in their delivery of the strategic plan for football in the coming financial year.
"In line with our usual practice of managing funds for all NSAs, we will administer and oversee Tote Board's grants allocated for football development as part of overall government funding for football."
This move, however, will add to the uncertainty in the S-League, whose clubs generally operate on an annual budget of $1.2 million to $1.5 million, of which around $800,000 comes from Tote Board subsidies.
In recent months, the FAS had come under scrutiny for a string of poor results on the pitch with the Lions crashing out of November's Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup with one draw and two defeats. The various national age-group teams have also suffered a catalogue of defeats.
In addition, there is still uncertainty in the FAS' leadership as the association is trying to hold democratic elections by May for a new council. Its previous leadership were appointed by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth but it was not in line with world governing body Fifa's statutes.
