September
26, 2004
Cash-strapped Jaguars is on the brink
of an exit while a
Jaguars chairman Matthew Kang confirmed that they
were unlikely to continue in the S-League with the club mired in debt of more
than $600,000.
Kang said the deadline for submitting
the application to participate next year is Sept 30 but they have asked for a
little more time & the S-League have granted them that.
In the meantime, they have engaged a
professional firm to help them source for potential sponsors, but the funds, if
they do come in, will have to be enough for expenditure next season & also
to fulfill repayment plans to creditors as these debts have been accumulating
since the start of the S-League in 1996 so if the money is just enough to
operate for next season, they would not want to carry on.
While the deeply troubled Jaguars are
praying for a lifeline, Planet FC are on the brink of becoming the third
foreign club — after China's Sinchi & Albirex Niigata — to play in the S-League & they will
not be the only entry as Singapore side Paya Lebar Kovan United FC could well
make next year's competition an 11-team league.
Sources have revealed that Planet FC have been given in-principle approval to compete in the
S-League, but the club must first provide a banker's guarantee of $500,000.
The club recently won the Queens Cup
in
When contacted, Crystalene
International's managing director, Richard Ng, said the first step is to get
the players here to play matches against the S-League teams &to show how
serious they are.
A squad of 22 players (between 18 and
22 years of age) & officials from Cameroon have already arrive in Singapore
to play 2 friendly matches -Woodlands Wellington FC (Sept 28) & an
All-Stars selection (Oct 5) - in which technical director P N Sivaji will give an insight into the team's performances
before any approval is given.
Like the African club, Paya Lebar Kovan
United FC also need to meet the banker's guarantee requirement &t they do
not see any problem
Steven Lee, the club's vice-president,
said he does not see any problem with the banker's guarantee as they have
several businessmen who are interested in sponsoring the team but first they
must make their application to the S-League & be assessed to see if they
have what it takes to play in the competition.
The club are currently playing in
Division One in the National Football League (NFL), under the name Katong FC.
S-League chief executive officer Chan
King Fook gave the assurance that new teams would
only be allowed to play in the competition after exhaustive screening.
He said FAS have continued to monitor &
review to determine when it would be appropriate to increase the number of
teams participating in the S-League but it does not in any way indicate or
imply that any increase will be implemented in the 2005 season.