FAS press release

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 – The Singapore national football team coach Radojko Avramovic has clarified comments attributed to him as well as cleared up misconceptions about team conduct during the recent trip to Amman for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifier against Jordan last week as reported in the local media today.

Avramovic clarified that the comments attributed to him regarding the players' attitude to training were taken out of context.

"I was disappointed with our performance and the result on the day itself but I cannot fault the players' attitude and commitment in training.

"I had no issue with the discipline and attitude of the players in our time in Jordan preparing for the game. There were no complaints at all from the players about training or any of the team meetings.

"The team conducted themselves well in difficult conditions with the weather and unprofessional treatment from the hosts and I was generally very happy. Nobody was late for any of the training sessions or team meetings."

On the allegations that a player was smoking in the dressing room during half-time, Avramovic commented, "In all my time as a coach, I have never seen any player openly smoke in front of me, especially inside the dressing room. On that day, none of us saw any player smoke at any time in the dressing room."

On the issue of smoking, Avramovic was clear on where he stood on the habit.

"We discourage our players from smoking. In fact, we have organised educational talks and advised players from a young age not to start smoking.

"We try to educate from the Young Lions and the NFA on all aspects of being professional sportsmen, from various aspects such as nutrition to hydration.

"Players must realise that if they smoke, their playing age and time will be shortened. That is a good enough reason not to smoke."

Avramovic confirmed that two players were seven minutes late boarding the team bus on match day.

“I was disappointed with the players who were seven minutes late. It is not my style to react or mention names immediately after the game as people will draw the wrong conclusions. I have highlighted this in my report and they will be dealt with accordingly through the proper procedures.”

FAS General Secretary Winston Lee said, "We take a serious view on the discipline of the National Team. If there was any breach in conduct, we will not hesitate to take the appropriate action.

“Moving forward, we will continue to look into how we can improve our performance. We are disappointed that we were not able to secure a place at the Asian Cup Finals for our fans and Singapore.

“We will learn from this. I know that Raddy and his team will do better the next time round. Raddy has proven his capabilities and I am confident that he has the capacities to bring Singapore football to the next level.”

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