Courtesy: Bangkok Post


More woes for Worawi

14/09/2012

The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) could be disbanded for establishing a company to seek profits, a House committee found yesterday.

FAT president Worawi Makudi appeared before the House committee on corruption yesterday to give his explanations on several financial issues as requested by the panel.

After the meeting, committee spokesman Supachai Chaisamut said Worawi admitted that Thai Premier League Co was established to seek income for for the FAT and Siam Sport Syndicate was authorised by the FAT to manage its commercial benefits.

Supachai said that under the law the FAT was an association which could not seek financial profits.

"This may lead to the FAT being disbanded," he said.

Siam Sport Syndicate withdrew from doing the job earlier this year after the transparency of the deal between the company and the FAT was questioned.

Supachai said he had asked for several documents from Worawi but he did not give them to the panel during yesterday's meeting which was the second between the two parties.

He said the committee had asked the Revenue Department to send a representative to meet the panel next week with the FAT's tax records.


Futsal stadium saga

The Senate committee on sports said yesterday the FAT and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) must be held responsible for damaging the country's reputation if the Bangkok Futsal Arena in Nong Chok is not complete before the Fifa Futsal World Cup.

The Bangkok Futsal Arena, which is under construction, would be the main venue for the tournament to be held in Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima.

Supachai Tantikom, an adviser to Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra, told the Senate panel the stadium itself would be complete before the handover of the venue to Fifa.

But he admitted that some facilities may not be in place before that date.

If it is not complete in time, there is Plan B with Hua Mark's Indoor Stadium to be used as the main venue, he said.

Committee chairwoman Naruemol Siriwat, who inspected the stadium site, said the panel was worried that the stadium would not be complete in time for the Futsal World Cup, which kicks off on November 1.

With a budget of over 1,200 million baht to build the stadium, the FAT and the BMA must take responsibility if the stadium is not ready for the tournament, she said.




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com