Fandi to stay at FAS as youth head coach
It's official - local soccer legend Fandi Ahmad is staying with Singapore football.
The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) made the announcement at a press conference at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Tuesday (Oct 4).
Fandi's official title is "head coach (youth)" and he will be on a three-year contract with an option to extend for another three years.
He will lead Singapore at the 2019 and 2021 South-east Asian Games as well as in qualification for the 2018 Asian Games and 2020 Olympics.
Fandi's contract with FAS as a staff coach was due to expire next month.
Despite 10 months of negotiations, Fandi's talks with the top brass in the association seemed to hit a stalemate.
Last month, Fandi looked to be on his way out after Pahang FA expressed an interest in adding him to their technical staff.
However, when the Malaysian club's interest came to light, FAS and Fandi re-entered talks and were able to reach an agreement.
Fandi revealed he had turned down Pahang but got blessings from the club he called his "second home" to take up his new FAS appointment.
He added: "I'm glad I'm staying put, and I hope we will be able to develop more young players... That is my main target."
FAS vice-president Edwin Tong said: "One of the reasons this took so long was to make sure the objectives, visions and goals were aligned, and I'm glad we've reached an agreement."
Get the full story in our print edition (Oct 5).
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