Etoile Football Club has to remember one thing – Singapore is not a place where anyone can come and go as they like. If there is a problem sustaining the team, the 2010 S-League Champions should take things in their stride; admit to the problem that they are facing, instead of using one silly excuse as a reason to pull out from the League.
I was quite pleased when the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) finally issued a Media Release on Monday morning, to confirm that there’ll only be thirteen teams in the 2012 Great Eastern-Yeo’s S-League competition.
Etoile FC will not be part of the S-League this year and I am all for it. In their brief two years, controversy has often been associated with the only European outfit to have participated in the S-League since its inception in 1996.
The Stars were brought onto the local scene by current S-League Deputy CEO Johan Gouttefangeas. Although things seemed to be quite well organized during the initial stages, the club’s fortunes spiralled downwards ever since its first home match at the Queenstown Stadium.
Disputes between Etoile FC and their respective partners also created ugly scenes with many distancing themselves from the club. My understanding from within the football fraternity is that contractors even called up the FAS to chase for payments owed by the club. It is understood that FAS was blamed for this issue, as payments due to the contractors involved were not paid.
I found time to speak to one of the many contractors involved and confirmed that the rumours were indeed true. The contractor has been chasing Etoile FC for the remainder of the payment for at least six months right up to this day. To make matters worse, the debt incurred is well within the club’s means to repay.
It is also understood that officials from Etoile FC claimed that after the takeover of the club, the previous Chairperson, Gouttefangeas had left a huge debt for his successor, Hicham Moudden to clear.
Charges from the players’ stay in hotels when they initially arrived went unpaid; their apparel sponsors Diadora also parted ways with the Stars when they defaulted on some payments. The problems didn’t stop there. Players’ wages were delayed and bonuses were not paid as promised. How on earth these managed to happen, is completely beyond comprehension.
When I visited Clementi Stadium during a friendly match between Tanjong Pagar and Etoile during the long league break, I was told that the team even had problems paying their laundry bill, leaving me shell-shocked with the reality of how the club was run.
Today marks the end of a long-drawn shady affair which was started by the Frenchmen themselves. When their former Chairperson Gouttefangeas was appointed as the deputy Chief Executive Officer, they showed their unpleasantness.
To me, a professional football club needs to behave like a professional football club and be run like one. Whining and using Gouttefangeas’ appointment as an excuse is uncalled for, in my honest opinion. There were several promises made by this French side, which is also the only foreign outfit to have lifted the S-League title in its sixteen-year history. However, nothing was fulfilled.
I really cannot see how Singapore football will end without Etoile FC’s participation in the 2012 season – as many have suggested since the official announcement. When there isn’t any interest to participate in the S-League, just let them go, for the better of everyone. Life goes on, with or without Etoile FC. The S-League will still go on, and it will be as exciting as how many local football fans decide it to be.
Article written by: Neo Chee Seong
Edited by: Aloysius Emmanuel Vetha
