June 7, 2004

After being dropped by Raddy, Ahmad Latiff has come out to the open & claims he is a victim of media basis towards him

The Woodlands Wellington midfielder was dropped from Radojko Avramovic's squad after oversleeping & missing a training session last week.

Feeling tired of being lambasted in the mass media since it happened, he decided to tell his side of the story.

Latiff admitted it is definitely his fault that he overslept & missed training but claims he has apologised to Avramovic just before the Lions left for Oman on Wednesday afternoon. The apology was accepted, but came too late to earn him a seat on the flight to Oman.

Following a career that has been littered with indiscretions, Latiff's latest misdemeanour has drawn considerable flak, with some questioning his laidback attitude. He claims the media's willingness to regurgitate previous errors of judgment whenever he makes a mistake smacks of subjectivity.

He felt when other players get dropped & there is either no story or a small story but once it happen to him it pasted all over the papers for days to come. Also he is angry the mass media makes a lot of noise over the fact he missed 1 training session, but nobody remember that he came to training on my birthday (last Saturday) or that he came even when he was ill on a previous occasion.

However his comments raise the obvious point that if his playing career had been unblemished until last week, there would not be a list of mistakes to reproduce & the missed training session would have had less significance.

The most naturally gifted player of his generation, Latiff is known for his troubled ways. His reluctance to communicate with coaches creates further apprehension & misunderstanding.

List of Latiff ups & downs

1997 - Voted S-League Young Player of the Year

1998 - Sacked from school for playing truant. Helped Singapore win their first international trophy, the Tiger Cup

1999 - Sent to detention barracks while serving National Service at SAFFC after missing training.

2000 - Pulls out of Singapore's World Cup Qualifying squad to attend trials at Holland. Ended up signing for Indonesian side FC Persikabo instead.

2001 - Sacked by national coach Jan Poulsen from the Singapore Selection team to face Manchester United for indiscipline.

2002 - Nominated S-League Young Player of the Year. Fined by Jan Poulsen for missing Lions' training.

2003 - Charged for speeding after his BMW was caught by a speed camera. Later acquitted.

2004 - Dropped from the Lions' squad against Oman for missing training