Sean Bai aims to bring European expertise to Singapore football as new FAS V-P

SINGAPORE – Seven time zones and 11,000km away, Sean Bai has been working tirelessly as Burnley’s chief of staff to help the English Championship club gain promotion to the English Premier League.

With that assignment accomplished on April 21, the 40-year-old will turn his sights on helping to lift the fortunes of Singapore football a week later.

The Singaporean is

one of the four new vice-presidents

who will be sworn in alongside incoming Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president Forrest Li at the FAS extraordinary congress on April 28.

Despite the distance, he assured that his job with Burnley will not affect his commitment and effectiveness as a key member of the FAS council.

He told The Straits Times: “We can be busy and never have enough time for a lot of things, but when you are passionate about something, you will always be able to find time for it.

“I had a chat with Forrest about this as well, and we reached a conclusion that we are comfortable with this. It’s about being organised to ensure our schedules are aligned, that we are coordinated and communicating and we are able to work around that.

“It is always in the back of my mind to think of angles that are relevant to Singapore football. And I’ve been in constant conversations with FAS, Unleash The Roar, Sport Singapore, clubs, players and parents, regardless of where I am.

“I don’t think we should be overly worried about it because ultimately, it’s a team effort and we know that we have a very strong team with a lot of different attributes.”

Bai, who played water polo for the National University of Singapore, has a master’s in public policy from Peking University and is pursuing a Master of Business Administration with UBI Business School.

He began his career in 2011 as a diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was posted to Taipei from 2015 to 2018.

He then joined La Liga’s Valencia, who are owned by Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim, as director of the president’s office, and then headed the Spanish club’s academy, which grew from 16th to fourth in Europe, as they produced an average of five first-team players per season.

He was the interim general director before he left in September 2022. During his time at the club, Valencia reached the King’s Cup final twice and beat Barcelona in the 2019 final, and played in the Champions League twice.

Bai then had a brief spell as Geylang International general manager in October 2023 before he joined Burnley in April 2024.

His latest football administration gig has seen him go through the roller coaster of relegation and promotion with Burnley.

After dropping from the Premier League in the 2023-2024 season, the Clarets’ 2-1 win over Sheffield United on April 21 ensured they and Leeds United would finish inside the top two of the Championship with two games to spare.

The Lancashire club are on a club record 32-match unbeaten run and have remarkably kept 30 clean sheets in 45 games, while not conceding more than once in any league game this season.

Bai described his job as one that works closely with chairman Alan Pace, manager Scott Parker and the various departments to help connect everyone within the club.

He said: “In most football clubs, there is a big fracture between the football and non-football sides, and they function almost as two separate entities within the same organisation as they have very different objectives and day-to-day priorities.

“My job is to make sure everyone’s aligned and working towards the same objective, and that there are no gaps between what the management wants and what the departments are doing. I’m involved in everything that goes on at the club to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.”

He also gave a glimpse into how Burnley made a swift return to the EPL, surviving a “turbulent” period when they replaced Bayern Munich-bound Vincent Kompany with Parker and revamped the squad after 17 players left following the relegation.

Bai said: “It wasn’t just a case of going for a big name. We deep-dived into all details of what is necessary to help us get out of the Championship, which is widely considered as one of the toughest leagues in the world.

“We also needed a squad that are able to compete in the Premier League if we do get promoted so we don’t have to go through another drastic change. If you do that, you are taking a very big bet by building a very big squad with a very high cost with longer contracts.

“If you get relegated, you will have financial problems, because you will not be able to afford that squad cost. So, the challenge is to minimise these fluctuations whichever league we are in and make sure our squad are able to focus and compete in either division.

“It’s easy to say with hindsight, but we feel quite vindicated that what we have been working hard to plan for has come to fruition.”

Bai, who resides in Burnley with his wife and five-year-old daughter, believes these are valuable experiences that will help him contribute to improving Singapore football.

He said: “I started off as a diplomat, so I am very used to working with different personalities across different departments. I’ve been thrown into tough issues and difficult problems that may emerge.

“We always talk about competing at a higher level, hopefully in Europe or the top leagues. The same theory applies to management and I’ve had the chance to work at the top level in Europe, which is something I’m happy to bring back and contribute to Singapore football.

“I’m looking at how I can support the clubs and the people in Singapore football. Hopefully through all the experiences, network and contacts I’ve gained over the years, I can help open more doors for Singapore football.”