FFBD: We're just following Fifa's rules

THE Football Federation of Brunei Darussalam (FFBD) has issued a statement to clarify their import ban rule for the 2010/11 DST Group Brunei Premier League (BPL), stating that they were only following the rules.

The import ban rule, which was confirmed in late February, states that "this season no import players will be allowed, including those that hold green identification cards".

This has led to former Projek Ikan Pusu striker, Nelson Fitzgerald, being denied a spot to play for a BPL I side as he currently holds a green identification card.

He had sent in an appeal to have the ruling overturned earlier this month but was informed that it was unsuccessful.

The FFBD issued a statement to The Brunei Times yesterday and elaborated that they were just following the Fifa (the Federation of International Football Associations) ruling, whilst the international ban on Brunei Darussalam is still in force.

"The rule banning import players was introduced by FFBD this season only and the rule was always meant to be further reviewed at the end of the season," said the statement

"The rule was introduced to ensure a more level playing field amongst the participating teams, since other clubs are not able to employ imports due to financial constraints as well as the current ban of Brunei Darussalam from international competitions imposed by Fifa," it added.

"This Fifa rule means that no foreign players holding International Transfer Certificates (ITC) will be allowed to play in the DST Group Brunei Premier League," continued the statement.

The statement also included the reasoning behind Nelson's appeal being turned down to play for a BPL I side.

"The FFBD Competitions Committee did meet to discuss the merits of the appeal. However, the committee unanimously dismissed the said appeal, hence upholding the rule imposed earlier," said the statement.

"The Competitions Committee in its deliberations also noted that Nelson Fitzgerald wanted to play for Jerudong FC, where FFBD Exco members are also represented. Hence the committee also wanted to preserve the integrity of the rule to avoid allegations of favouritism towards any particular team.

"In its official reply to the appeal dated 21st March, however, the FFBD through its Secretary General made it clear that the non-import player rule only applies to the DST Group Brunei Premier League (being the official national football league in the country) and not to other age group leagues organised by FFBD," continued the statement.

"Hence, Nelson Fitzgerald will be able to play in any U-18 or U-19 leagues which FFBD also intends to organise later this year, time and venue considerations permitting," concluded the statement.

Regarding the above matter, Nelson's father, Ken Fitzgerald, had separately taken action by seeking support of State and National Football Authorities in Australia. However, it proved there was nothing that Football Federation Australia (FFA) could do in their reply.

"I am sorry to hear of your son's situation it is always a shame when administrative issues prevent participation in football. Unfortunately, I must advise that Football Federation Australia is unable to make any correspondence with the local governing body (FFBD) at this time," said the reply.

"Brunei is currently suspended from Fifa and accordingly FFA is prevented by Fifa from communicating with Football Federation Brunei Darussalam. I can also confirm that FFA has had to withdraw its approval to school tours planning on visiting this country as a result of the Fifa ban," it added.

The Brunei Times

To ban or not to ban: FFBD has tough decision to make

The ruling body of local football, the Football Federation of Brunei Darussalam (FFBD), might just want to hold off from signing the papers that will ban import players from the DST Group Brunei Premier League (BPL) just yet.

Back in April the FFBD secretary-general, Sheikh Nordin Sheikh Mohamad, revealed the plan in an interview with The Brunei Times.

"Currently we are wondering whether import players should still be allowed in the BPL. There is no point if only one team can afford them. It's causing an imbalance within the league and we would like it to be fair for all. These are changes that could be made to improve the overall quality of the league," Sheikh Nordin had said.

However, the FFBD would be wise to revise a page from neighbouring country Malaysia's book first.

After barring foreign players from playing in the Malaysia Premier League for only a season, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) is now considering on reversing the ruling.

According to Bernama, a meeting will be held in October in which the FAM would discuss the issue, among other things.

The 2009 season was the second time that FAM had enforced the ban on import players, the first was in 1999.

The 1999 ban was a result of the Asian financial crisis and was revoked three years later.

The FAM's decision to ban imports stood on grounds that it would help increase the standard of local football.

The difference here is that import players are said to cause an imbalance to the BPL, well at least one import player.

Imports in Brunei football fall under two categories, the first are professional footballers who have international transfer certificates (ITC) and the second are foreign workers who have green identification cards.

BPL I teams like AM Gunners FC and Wijaya FC and BPL II sides like Brunei Association of Banks (BAB) and Kota Ranger have players in the latter group.

Judging from last season's results, there was no solid proof that imports gave the teams a clear advantage in their respective leagues.

While the Gunners finished third and BAB ended fourth, Wijaya FC and Kota Ranger placed at the bottom of the table.

Therefore, the proposed ban by the FFBD can be squarely traced to one man, QAF FC's striker Viban Francis Bayong.

The Cameroonian is the only professional footballer who has an international transfer certificate in the BPL.

QAF FC indeed owe the 29-year-old hitman for their stranglehold on the BPL I.

Bayong, whose biggest claim to fame was being signed by Croatian powerhouses NK Dinamo Zagreb in 2002, scored 20 of 60 of QAF FC's goals in last season's competition.

Besides claiming the BPL I Top Scorer award, his tally also aided QAF FC to secure the league title for the third consecutive season.

Yet it would seem highly unrealistic that FFBD would take a step in this direction solely because of one man's skills in front of goal, especially for a sport in which playing as a team is key.

"I am sure Brunei needs imports to let football improve. It will be more challenging and the players can all gain more," said Bayong after the news was broken to him in April.

This avid observer of local football agrees wholeheartedly because unlike other foreign leagues, the number of foreign players in the BPL is still at an acceptable level.

Even the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) president Sepp Blatter would not bat an eyelid at the situation. A strong advocate against the influx of foreign players in a league, Blatter was the one who proposed the '6+5' rule ( at least six local players and five imports at the start of a match) back in 2008.

It was eventually abandoned in June, due to a decision of the European Commission that such a proposal would contravene European Union labour laws.

One of the objectives of this rule was to restore the national identity of football clubs, taking into account that English Premier League (EPL) teams like Arsenal and Chelsea have less than a handful of English players in the roster.

Italian Serie A winners and European champions Inter Milan also came under scrutiny following their 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League final last season.

Italy's treble winners failed to field a single Italian in their starting eleven, which they did again on Aug 21 to win 3-1 against AS Roma in the Italian Supercup.

Undoubtedly the best Italian team who failed to field a single Italian came under fire due to their selection policy and Inter president Massimo Moratti responded: "If it was normal (that Inter are hated) it's justified by the fact that if I was the other team that had tried to win but hadn't managed it, of course I wouldn't like the one that had won. That's natural."

A perfectly sound reasoning, which could also be used to explain those in favour of an import ban in the BPL.

Other sports in the Sultanate are complaining about the lack of exposure to further improve their abilities.

Why then should the FFBD throw away this one opportunity for self improvement for having import players is the closest that local players will get in terms of international exposure.

The issue surrounding the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (Bafa) and Fifa has yet to be resolved and, thus, Brunei is still under suspension and prevented from playing at the international stage.

Therefore, it would be wise for the FFBD to re-think the proposed ban, if it indeed wants the Sultanate to be a force to be reckoned with in the world of football. It is the next best thing to prepare the Sultanate for its return to the international stage.

The Brunei Times

Football czar: All good on the local front

SINCE the Football Federation of Brunei Darussalam (FFBD) officially took over the reins of Brunei football, it has received a luke warm response from the public.

The negative criticism has largely come on the back of the international football ban, imposed by the International Federation of Football Association (Fifa) at its executive committee meeting in Rio de Janeiro on Sept 29.

However, FFBD's secretary-general, Sheikh Nordin Sheikh Mohamad, would like football fans to understand that the federation has nothing to do whith what happened in Rio.

"Our hands are tied regarding the subject. We are only involved in football and the ban is beyond our jurisdiction," said Sheikh Nordin.

"Those decisions were done by the relevant authorities and we have to respect that. Until there are any changes, FFBD will continue to run football in the country," said the secretary-general.

And it is not like the new football body has been merely sitting on its hands. So far, the federation has successfully run the U-14 National League, U-16 National League, DST Group Brunei Premier League (BPL) I/II, Champions' Cup, DST Group Brunei League Cup and the DST Group Brunei FA Cup in its very first year in charge.

"I have to thank our sponsors for making this season a success. Without the financial support of our main sponsor, DST Group and not to mention Brunei Shell Petroleum Company and Brunei LNG, it would not have been possible," said Sheikh Nordin.

Officially set up on Jan 14 last year, FFBD was formed by local football enthusiasts who had development in mind.

"We had a strong setup from the start. FFBD president and vice-president, Dato Paduka Hj Md Hamid Hj Md Jaafar and Hj Salleh Bustamam Hj Zainal Abidin respectively are both individuals that want to see the Sultanate become a force to be reckoned with in football. Even Hj Md Rosanan Abdullah Samak, Liew Chuan Fue and others, who were among the 1999 Malaysia Cup winners, have jumped on the bandwagon. If they didn't believe in our vision, this won't have been possible."

The secretary-general went on to outlay his plans for the upcoming season.

"Currently we are wondering whether import players should still be allowed. There is no point if only one team can afford them. It's causing an imbalance within the league and we would like it to be fair for all. These are changes that are made to improve the overall quality of the league. The matter is not finalised yet though but if it does come into effect, it would be in the forthcoming season," said Sheikh Nordin.

If the rule does come to fruition, it would be detrimental for QAF FC. The three-times BPL I champions will be forced out of the services of Cameroonian Viban Francis Bayong, the BPL I top-scorer for the last three years running.

"We will also be holding a Futsal league at the end of the year. Originally planned for last year, FFBD weren't able to run it due to the time constraint and we weren't able to secure a venue yet," he said.

On the topic of referees, Sheikh Nordin acknowledged there were room for improvements.

"It would be better if there were more quality referees that are well versed in the laws of the game. That is why FFBD we are working hard to have better relations with match officials," said Sheikh Nordin.

As the FIFA World Cup is going to be the biggest football tournament this year, FFBD also plans to hold a World Cup-themed competition.

"In conjunction with the World Cup, FFBD will be hosting a football carnival for U-13 and U-10.

It will be held in conjunction with the school holidays. This is one of our efforts at developing football talent from a young age," said Sheikh Nordin.

The secretary-general then closed the interview by stating, "It is our very fervent hope that Fifa will lift the ban and recognise the federation soon. If they could only witness what FFBD have accomplished in it's debut season. I believe Fifa only want the best for Brunei football and currently, with the effort FFBD have put into local football, we are on course toward that goal."

Brunei Times