A Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Council member, who is also the Vice-Chairman of Singapore Premier League side Balestier Khalsa has been outed by local independent portals TMSG and Wake Up Singapore (WUSG) for sending abusive and toxic WhatsApp messages to players and the technical team at the Toa Payoh-based club.
In one of the messages, vulgarity was used by Mohammad Darwin Jalil, a member of the FAS Council since 2017, where he was elected alongside FAS President Lim Kia Tong and Edwin Tong, who was Vice-President then.
In the message, he said, “Pls have some respect for me. I am not a f**king maid.”
Tong has since stepped down after the 2020 General Elections, and after he was appointed as the Minister for Culture, Community, and Youth and Second Law Minister.
Other evidence of WhatsApp messages sent by Mohammad Darwin to the players and technical team were published.
The story first came to light and was posted on 1 September as the reasons behind former Balestier coach Akbar Nawas’ sudden departure were investigated.
Akbar, who was signed on by the club at the end of 2021 for a two-year tenure, left only after less than a year on the job.
He has signed and joined a Thailand Division 2 side – Udon Thani FC, which is rooted at the bottom of the Thai Division 2 league.
The source-based story on TMSG also included a photo of Akbar transporting training equipment at the back of his car to St Wilfrid’s ground along Upper Serangoon, as the professional football club did not have a full-time kit manager.
The photo has since been shared and making its rounds on social media as being emblematic of the poor state of professional football in Singapore.
In his first comments after the expose, Mohammad Darwin wrote on his Facebook that the revelations were “junk news” despite the evidence at hand.
Responses to the story online have ranged from disgust against Mohammad Darwin to sympathy for Akbar.
The FAS has not responded to the revelations yet.