Thai football could have a new president tomorrow after the long-delayed election is finally held. Four months after it was first put on the calendar, the election pits Football Association of Thailand’s troubled incumbent president against a former national team manager to decide who will lead the organization for the next two years.
Incumbent FAT president Worawi Makudi, who wants to hang onto the coveted position, invited controversy after he canceled the original vote scheduled for June 16, the day his two-year term ended. After months of posturing and fighting, challenger Virach Chanpanich agreed back in August to Worawi’s insistence that the number of voters be reduced from 184 to 72 to comply with FIFA statute.
This was not before Pattaya FC filed a court injunction to try and stop the changes from happening. Pattaya dropped their claim in June after FIFA threatened to ban Thailand from international football if the dispute was not resolved.
So, for the first time the vote will be held under a FIFA-backed reform, which has slashed the number of eligible voters from 184 clubs down to 72 clubs. The voters will consist of 18 Thai Premier League (TPL) clubs, 18 League One teams, six winners and runners-up of divisions B, C and D Cups, and 30 regional league teams, reported the Nation.
What have the candidates promised to deliver if they are elected? Virach said last week that he would get Thailand into the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and not surprisingly, Worawi made the same claim this week. That is an ambitious promise to keep, considering Thailand has never qualified for the World Cup, and the national team currently sits at the bottom of its AFC Asian Cup qualifying group.
Virach also said his leadership will enable Thailand to win the Southeast Asian title in two years and become a top-five team in Asia in six years. His other plans include hiring professionals to help run the association and changing its structure.
Worawi plans to develop football at every level in the country under the slogan “development toward professional football and the future.” He also wants to recruit a chief executive officer to oversee the national side and bring in professionals to supervise the domestic league, as well as establish a football college in co-operation with England’s University of Central Lancashire, reported the Bangkok Post.
Voters must decide in tomorrow’s secret ballot if they should keep Worawi, whose reputation has been tainted by accusations of fraud, financial mismanagement and illegally profiting from FAT during his previous three terms. That’s not even mentioning the parliamentary inquiry into problems with last year’s FIFA Futsal World Cup or his implication in accusations of bribery in his role at FIFA, where he is an executive committee member, reported the Bangkok Post.
Worawi defends his record by encouraging voters to consider his results, chiefly his role in bringing the 2004 Under-19 Women’s World, 2007 Asian and 2012 Futsal World Cups to Thailand.
Virach, who was unceremoniously dumped from FAT’s executive board after losing to Worawi two years back, has the backing of Newin Chidchob’s Buriram FC, and Chonburi FC, among a number of other TPL teams. Virach, unsurprisingly, is beating the drum for change and is counting on frustration and a desire for structural change among voters, particularly in the big chair at the organization’s top table.
Photo: FIFA
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