FAS sticks to its guns; confirms Warriors’ sit out of upcoming SPL campaign

FAS (Football Association of Singapore) has stuck to its word regarding their position that Warriors FC should sit out of the 2020 SPL (Singapore Premier League) season.

Mentioning financial difficulties, FAS confirmed in a media statement that the nine-time league champions will sit out the 2020 campaign. Warriors meanwhile, continue to be hopeful of turning things around but after meeting with the governing body’s officials, that proved not to be the case.

In its statement, FAS added: “As of 31 Dec 2019, as far as can be told, WRFC is indebted to the amount of more than $800,000 to players/staff, the CPF Board and IRAS”, adding that the club has little or no reasonable prospect of meeting the debts.

In November last year, the club was charged with owing over $350,000 in salaries to their employees from as far back as July. But last month, the club said they had paid $150,000 of that amount through loans from their management committee members.

Additionally, Warriors also failed to include concrete details regarding their ability to clear the incurred liabilities and maintain future financial sustainability when asked to present a proposal for 2020. Moreover, the club has already signed at least 15 players for the new season, which is scheduled to kick off late next month.

Without Warriors, the SPL is now down to eight clubs, of which only six are local. There has been talk of the likes of Tanjong Pagar United and Gombak United taking the place of Singapore football’s most successful club.