The statement rejected an assertion by the Football Association of Thailand secretary-general Worawut Thongsringam on Wednesday (Jan 20) that declared Pol Gen Somyot ineligible to contest the election scheduled for Feb 11.
Worawut had claimed that Somyot had been disqualified for not submitting his nomination papers to the FAT secretariat as stipulated by the national football governing body’s constitution.
The FAT secretary-general’s statement had also pushed Bangkok FC chairman Natthapol Teepsuwan out of the contest for the same reason.
The announcement had left four candidates – Thavatchai Sajakul, Charnwit Phalajivin, Pinit Sasinin and Chaisap Tharat Rittem – in the race.
Surawut issued a letter to Somyot, assuring him that his candidacy had been in order.
The normalisation committee chairman also sent a written request to Fifa to suspend Worawut for issuing the controversial statement and “not performing his duty in an honest manner”.
Surawut told reporters: “We have sent a request to Fifa to take action and suspend Khun Worawut,” barring him from working as the FAT secretary-general. He had no authority to ratify four presidential candidates.
“Moreover, he is a part of the team for one of the presidential candidates, Dr Charnwit Phalajivin.”
Surawut’s panel is scheduled to elect 30 new voters this afternoon at the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) headquarters to represent the second division (regional leagues) at the FAT presidential election.
Surawut said, “All arrangements have been finalised and we will be having a representative of the Asian Football Confederation at the meeting tomorrow afternoon to oversees the entire process.
“The election of the 30 new regional voters will be also be observed and endorsed by the legal department of the SAT. We are not leaving anything to chance. We will be going by the book to avoid any problems later on.”
The 30 voters elected today to represent the regional leagues will be casting ballot together with 18 voters from the TPL, an equal number from League One and six from minor competitions.
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