Fierce comments on the FC Phuket Fanclub page on Facebook were divided. Some accused the players of being unprofessional.
Most of the condemnation, however, was reserved for the Phuket Sports Association (PSA) and its chairman, Chettawit Tantiphanwadee, who were blamed for failing to issue the money needed to pay the players.
A high-ranking source in the FC Phuket management told The Phuket News bluntly on Monday (December 5), “The PSA is sabotaging us. On Friday I waited all day for the PSA to give me the paycheck, but only on Sunday did they finally hand it over.
“What was I to do then? It was Sunday! I went to the bank branch at Central Festival and tried to cash the check, but the bank said that because it was Sunday they could only give me B300,000, not the full amount of nearly B1.3 million.
“B300,000? That’s nothing!”
The source also wrote on his personal Facebook page that this was the reason that sports in Phuket never get anywhere. “We should do something. We should come together and try to oust the President of the PSA so that Phuket sports will have a better future.”
He added, “Every time I go to get the players’ paycheck, I feel like a beggar, pleading for [the PSA’s] money.”
These harsh comments prompted PSA President Chettawit Tantiphanwadee, who is also Phuket’s Chief Prosecutor, to break silence and explain to The Phuket News what is going on.
He painted a grim scenario that goes much further than Phuket, and could, in the worst-case scenario, see many clubs go bankrupt and, potentially, result in the collapse of the Thai football league.
“There was no sabotage going on between us [the PSA] and FC Phuket,” he told The Phuket News, handing over some documents with the Garuda emblem at the top – official government papers.
It all began in Ratchaburi.
A letter from the Governor of Ratchaburi to the Department of Local Administration (DLA) asked for guidance on a request from the Ratchaburi Sports Association for financial support from the provincial administration organisation there, or OrBorJor.
The Sports Association wanted B5 million for training facilities, boots, uniforms, signboards and other equipment for Ratchaburi FC. The Governor wanted to know whether Ratchaburi OrBorJor was entitled to give the club financial support.
The Governor’s view was that funding the club could be viewed as promoting sports and encouraging the public to take part in sporting activities. As such, the funding was within the mandate of the OrBorJor. But, the Governor wrote, he would like a definitive interpretation from the DLA.
The answer from the DLA was brief: No. The money being requested would not benefit the public as a whole. It would benefit only one organisation: Ratchaburi FC, which is a registered company.
The second document shown to The Phuket News was the minutes of a high-level meeting of the Local Administration Committee on March 24 this year.
At the meeting were the Auditor General of Thailand, the Governor of Bangkok, the Director-General of the DLA, the Director of Budget Bureau, the Director of the Sports Authority of Thailand, the Mayor of Pattaya, the President of Provincial Administration Office of Thailand, the President of the Municipality Union, the Vice President of the Thai Football Association, and the OrBorJor presidents from Buriram, Ayutthaya and Chainat.
The meeting addressed the legitimacy of OrBorJor around the country funding professional football in Thailand.
It came to the conclusion that OrBorJor could provide financial support only for government entities organising activities that are educational or in support of public health.
Many teams in the Thai football league are registered under their local Provincial Sports Association, and so can legitimately receive financial support from OrBorJor.
However, football clubs registered as “juristic persons” – in other words, companies – are not entitled to receive taxpayers’ money.
The Office of the Auditor General of Thailand (OAGT) distributed this opinion to OrBorJor nationwide.
PSA President Chettawit asked, “What would you think if the government took your money and gave it to a business so they can use your money to make a profit?”
He explained that the Football Association of Thailand, adopting the concept from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), had encouraged teams to incorporate so that they could legitimately make a profit.
However, the model has not worked so far in Thailand. Although there has been healthy growth in the popularity of local football, most teams have not been able to earn enough to break even, let alone make a profit.
“If FC Phuket were not a registered business entity, then it would be an entirely different story. They would be entitled to financial support from the OrBorJor and the PSA. No one would be able to object to that,” says Mr Chettawit.
But FC Phuket is a registered business. It was incorporated in January last year as Football Phuket 1688 Co Ltd with three shareholders – Nauruebet Ayupong, Paitoon Chutimagornkul and Eam Thavornwongwong – and registered capital of B1 million.
This has left the OrBorJor and the PSA in a very awkward position.
The OrBorJor has been supporting FC Phuket since 2010 with taxpayers’ money, B1.3 million a month for the salaries of players and staff, and another B130,000 in training allowances.
All of these payments, according to the Office of the Auditor General, have been illegal, and it has been following up.
OAGT officials have already visited Buriram, Chainat, Ratchaburi and Ayutthaya, and on December 1 requested a look at the Phuket OrBorJor records.
This, Mr Chettawit said, was the reason the PSA held back the December paychecks.
He said he had arranged a meeting with Paiboon Upatising, President of the Phuket OrBorJor, to discuss the situation. But the meeting came too late.
By that time the story was out, with furious fans railing at the PSA for damaging players’ morale, which seemingly resulted in the humiliating loss to Chantaburi.
Mr Chettawit sighs. “The PSA has made no gain whatsoever out of any of this. People think we are the bad guys who bullied FC Phuket and sabotaged their beloved team. But we are just the messenger, the middleman who receives the money with the right hand and pays it out with the left.
“But we can’t stop people from thinking what they think and believing what they hear.”
So if the OAGT pursues the matter to its logical conclusion, what will happen?
“First of all, the OAGT will freeze all financial support: no OrBorJor money for any football teams [registered as companies]. Second, they will demand repayment of all the money paid to teams. The teams will have to repay every single satang – with interest.
“In the case of FC Phuket, I believe it was B10 million in 2010 alone,” says Mr Chettawit.
“Both the OrBorJor and the PSA have tried and are still trying to straighten this out with the OAGT. There is only a month left in the current season. We are hoping to find a way of settling the matter so that the team can receive money to pay the players until the season ends on January 7.
“I just hope the OAGT will cut us some slack and won’t freeze [FC Phuket’s] funds or demand the return of all funds paid to football teams during the year.
“Both Mr Paiboon and myself hope that the FC Phuket management, players and fans will try to understand that this matter is not in our hands anymore, and that we’re putting all our efforts into addressing this matter.”
OrBorJor President Paiboon is upbeat. He says that some private companies have shown interest in supporting or buying the club. The team may end up with a new name, he told The Phuket News, but he believes it will survive.
However, with a heavy look in his eyes and an invisible but very heavy weight on his shoulders, PSA President Chettawit says, “If things don’t go the way I hope, the worst-case scenario will be that next year we will see many football teams go bankrupt. One of those teams could be FC Phuket.
“I pray that day will never come.” – Kazira Hans
* To add to the misery, FC Phuket lost 0-7 to Buriram at the weekend.