Courts Young Lions Penalized

The S-League have overturned the results of the recent four matches that involved the Courts Young Lions namely, against Hougang United on 20 February, Tampines Rovers on 28 February, Brunei DPMM on 7 March and Balestier Khalsa on 13 March 2013.

It was found that the Courts Young Lions fielded ineligible players in these four matches. The team’s opponents in each of these four matches will be awarded a 3-0 win.
 
Mr Kok Wai Leong, S-League Director of Operations said “Under S-League rules, all players need to fulfil all the necessary registration criteria such as valid local or international transfer certificates, fitness test and medical screenings. However, the small group of players who are full-time National Servicemen are further required to obtain written approval from their respective relevant authorities. This was not conducted for some of the affected players in Courts Young Lions.”

S-League has also conducted another check on the records of players serving their national service in all other S.League clubs and found that everything is in order. None of the other S-League matches that have been played were affected.

Mr Asadullah Mohd, Team Manager of Courts Young Lions said, “We sincerely apologise for the administrative oversight on our part and we accept the punishment the S-League management has meted out to us. We appreciate the fans’ support thus far and hope they will continue to support us in the season ahead.”

Mr Ridzal Saat, FAS Deputy Director of Development and Planning, said “We are deeply sorry for the admin lapse on the part of our officials and we have taken immediate measures to rectify the problem. We acknowledge the severity of the issue and will be taking internal disciplinary action against officials found to be negligent in their duties."