SportSG files police report against floorball association president
Local sports governing body suspects there has been a misappropriation of funds at the national sports association
BY
GERARD WONG
[email protected]ISHED: 10:05 AM, MAY 14, 2016UPDATED: 10:38 AM, MAY 14, 2016
SINGAPORE - Sport Singapore has filed a police report against Sani Mohamed Salim, the president of the Singapore Floorball Association (SFA), on suspicion that he has misappropriated funds belonging to the National Sports Association.
SportSG sent out a media advisory this morning to say that the matter is now being investigated by the police.
Sani, who is a staff of SportSG, has been suspended from official duties with immediate effect.
This latest development comes on the heels of TODAY’s report on Thursday (May 13) that the SFA has been hit by financial problems, and that it has yet to submit its audited accounts — a requirement for all NSAs
As a result, the SFA has not received its annual funding from Sport Singapore.
The SFA also owes money to the International Floorball Federation (IFF), with the sport’s world governing body stating at its central board meeting in January that the SFA has not paid up its outstanding debt of 23,000 Swiss francs (S$32,300).
TODAY understands that Sport Singapore had sent a letter to the SFA’s management committee demanding clarification on a number of issues, including its financial problems.
When TODAY contacted SFA president Sani last week, he insisted that all was well with the sport.
“Everything is okay, it (financial problems) is all under control,” he told this newspaper last week. “Sport Singapore is helping us, and we’re working on it. As long as we get the funding money, we will be okay.”
The SFA’s financial woes means that the men’s team has run into money woes ahead of the 11th Men’s World Floorball Championships in Latvia in December.
Ranked 18th in the world, the team qualified for the World Championships after a string of impressive performances at the Asia-Oceania zone qualifiers in Pattaya in February. This is the fourth time that Singapore will compete in the world tournament’s top division after three outings in 1996, 2010 and 2012.
Because the SFA is unable to fund the trip, team manager Desmond Tang told TODAY that they are trying to raise S$80,000 to cover the cost of air tickets, accommodation and meals for the squad of 20 players and five coaching staff.
This is not the first time that the men’s team has found itself in such a situation. In 2012, the players had to fork out money from their own pockets to co-pay for their trip to the World Championships in Switzerland after they were unable to raise enough funds.
The current situation is a sad twist to a glorious 2015 for the SFA. Both its men’s and women’s teams won gold medals at the 2015 SEA Games which was held on home soil. It was also floorball’s debut at the SEA Games.
Floorball is also highly popular at school and tertiary levels, with more than 10,000 players, 200 schools and 100 clubs currently active in the sport.
“Before the SEA Games, there was the Final Push funding (from Sport Singapore), but after that, there has been no continuity,” added Tang. “After the SEA Games ended, it was back to zero.”
Added a national player, who declined to be named: “After the SEA Games, we thought the financial situation would be better, but it’s the same old story. There’s no money for floorball.”
Others TODAY spoke to observed that the SFA has not been run well in years, resulting in a lack of a development pathway into the national men’s and women’s teams.
“There are a fair number of people who are frustrated with the association,” said a member of the local floorball community. “If they clear their financial issues, we need a neutral person as the head, to help the NSA grow. Floorball would be better off if other people run it.”
