Fifa official tells NFABD: Brunei has a lot of work to do

Jason Thomas
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Tuesday, June 7, 2011
PRIMO Corvaro (pic) wants Bruneians to know everything is just getting started.

Fifa's manager of member associations was in town with two other international football officials to observe a historic moment in Brunei football yesterday morning's National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) elections.

Later in the afternoon his colleague, Fifa development officer Domeka Garamendi, signed over the keys to NFABD's new headquarters along Jalan Pusat Persidangan to the association's newly-elected president, Dato Paduka Hj Abdul Rahman Hj Mohiddin.

The crowd gathered at the spanking new US$1.6 million facility near the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex was in a celebratory mood and rightly so after last week's news that Fifa has lifted its suspension on Brunei.

But Corvaro was quick to remind the country that it has just taken the first step back on the long road to football glory, going on to outline several moves NFABD will be wise to look into.

"The elections were run smoothy and now the first thing NFABD has to do is appoint a secretary-general," he told The Brunei Times.

"It is important because the secretary-general is the one who runs the day-to-day business of the association.

"There also should be seven to eight working committees, where each committee will be made up of a chairman and vice-chairman who are NFABD Executive Committee members.

"Adaptations of regulations such as disciplinary and ethics codes are also key.

"Another important aspect is proper membership. Today (Monday) there were only 25 members from 17 clubs at the elections. Why these 17 clubs? Why not 10? 25?

"I have been told it is because these are the clubs that have been registered under the Registrar of Societies (RoS) but that is not a criteria.

"It should be the association (NFABD) that decides who are the members, not the other way around. In other countries the clubs join the association first, and then they register.

"This is not wise. As soon as the RoS decides who can and cannot join, that's already interference.

"Also there has to be a competition set up and internal regulations set out for the league. Regulations like what divisions will be contested? Professional? Amateur?

"There is a lot of work to be done," added the official from Fifa's headquarters in Zurich.The Brunei Times