The Football Association of Singapore have fined our Technical Director Luka Lalic S$5000 for a post which made fun of the officiating during our 7-1 win over Albirex Niigata (S). I am still very annoyed by how this whole episode was handled, so let me dive into a few areas where I think the FAS really could have done better.
It Was the Correct Charge for Luka
Let me start off by saying that by the letter of the law, Luka Lalic is guilty of what he was accused of. He was accused of breaching Clause 92.1 of the Singapore Premier League 2024/2025 Regulations.
By the letter of the law, sure he did breach it. Luka also accepted it, and “[acknowledged] that he could have acted differently to communicate his views on these topics in a more effective manner”. He also “expressed regret for his actions”.
Let’s look at the offending post in question –
Thank you Deepanraj Ganesan for the screenshot.
By the letter of the law – it can be said to be disparaging because it seems that Luka meant to say that the VAR team is a bunch of clowns. I think he would have got away with it if his caption was “This is a goal, with VAR. That cannot be”, or “This is a goal, with VAR. We have to do better”. Those are probably more fine, because he is just stating facts. Anyone with half an eye can see this is an offside goal.
But clowns? While it’s funny and I am sure supporters called the VAR team far, far worse, club staff and players must understand that their words carry more weight than that of the average layman, and so they should rightly be held to higher standards.
Ok, so it was the correct charge, but should he have been charged, and was the fine excessive? Let’s dive into that.
Luka Should Not Have Been Charged – Bad Optics
I put myself in the shoes of the FAS. A club official just took a shit on our referees. However, the mistake was a really really poor one.
It was an offside so clear that we called it from the stands. I remember being so confident that VAR would review it and disallow it. But hey, it wasn’t disallowed.
Mistakes happen. Even the great English Premier League had a very similar incident, where Luis Diaz’s goal was wrongly disallowed due to a VAR error. The opposite of what happened, but no less important.
In the aftermath, Jurgen Klopp called it a crazy decision, and said that the circumstances were very unfair. Virgil van Dijk said that he was losing faith in VAR. Both were not punished for their comments.
The point of punishing players and officials for disparaging remarks is to ensure that matchgoers, footballers, and all involved in football do not lose faith in the institution. However, in this case, FAS should have taken a peek at how our friends in the EPL handled it and applied common sense.
Yes, by the letter of the law, you can throw the book at Luka Lalic. But should you? When your officials made a monumental error and all Luka said was [clown emoji] [clown emoji] [clown emoji]?
It’s like cheating on your wife, NOT APOLOGISING, and then pointing out to her that oh by the way I know I screwed up, but you are still not allowed to rant about it on IG – didn’t we say before that what happens in our marriage stays between us?
Err hello, you made the mistake first right? I would have gone with a private / public warning for Luka Lalic, and then an APOLOGY for my officials making such an error. I also feel that the timing of these two statements together is not by coincidence.
If you’re wondering why I bolded and underlined those words, it’s because if you read their statement carefully, FAS did not apologise.
Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word
Excuse me. Where is the apology? Where is the word “sorry”, or “apologise”? When supporters are aggrieved at a decision, when you’ve let your stakeholders down, the least you could do is apologise.
We know that officials are human. The role of a referee is not an easy one. I took the refereeing course offered by FAS before and came out with a much greater appreciation for what our officials do week in week out. So let me be clear – referees can make mistakes. They are just like you and I. But unlike you and I, it seems that the organisation protects them to such a degree that it cannot apologise on their behalf.
The effort it takes to craft such a media statement, artfully dodging the words “sorry”, “apologise”, “regret”, “let down”, or any word that would convey anything remotely resembling an apology is truly amazing. If only they had put such effort into their match previews.
Not only are the bullet points not worthy of being stand-alone bullet points, the team news for Brunei DPMM is wrong. In the match right before this game, Farshad Noor was sent off for two yellow cards. Also, DPMM had already published on their website that their Aussie centreback Flottmann would be out for a long time with an ACL injury. At the time of publishing, Flottmann had already missed two games and the commentators had already discussed his injury.
I am not even asking whoever came up with this to look up stats and love the game as much as I do. I am just asking him to watch the game and give a shit. That’s not too much to ask for, surely.
Ok I digress. Back to the things FAS could have done better with this debacle. But ok la dammit, that preview didn’t come from an organisation that loves football.
Ok really back this time.
Luka’s Fine was Disproportionate
So ok fine, you wanna set an example, you wanna punish someone. You wanna show people you mean business. S$5,000 fine? Come on.
Thanks to Grandstand Singapore for reminding me about this. Are we saying now that an ill-advised comment based on an error from the officials is worse than the head coach of an SPL team headbutting someone, and sparking what almost became a mass brawl?
By the way, Mustafic Fahrudin was fined S$3000 for the same incident, where he used his hands to sorta choke Kim Do Hoon. Maybe Coach Luka would have been better off running off to the VAR room to strangle the VAR? S$3000 fine, save S$2000, can buy 1200 McCrispys. Hurry, the promotion ends today – 6 pieces for S$10, you can mix Signature or Spicy.
I would love to read the Grounds of Decision (if there is one) or the internal memos circulating inside FAS headquarters that led to this decision, so I can understand it better. Right now, I can’t.
Supporters Kept in the Dark
The way this was handled was also not ideal. When Luis Diaz’s incident happened, right after the game, the PGMOL made a statement that the decision was wrong. They said they would conduct a full inquiry, and they did.
To show that they have nothing to hide, they have also published audio recordings of the conversations that took place. This happened 3 days after the incident. From hearing the information first-hand, supporters know that it was a pure mistake. And mistakes happen.
But hey at least the English fans knew IMMEDIATELY that the authorities were looking into it and it was a mistake.
In my post-match thoughts article, I wrote about how I hoped there would be a fuller statement, and that was already a few days after the game. It took a full 10 days after the Albirex game for the FA to acknowledge there was an error. All this time, supporters were kept in the dark. This is yet another area to improve.
Conclusion
This should have been handled way better. In the heat of the moment, things are said. When on the receiving end of a huge injustice, you can’t expect people to behave like robots.
Should they be warned about their future conduct? Yes.
But this is Luka’s first offence. He may say a lot of arrogant stuff online, but they have never been disparaging remarks about FAS – and even if they have been, if they were the reason for the fine being so large, then it should be referenced in a public statement.
The lack of an apology from the FA really rankles as well. Faith in a system comes when you are transparent, accepting of criticism, and above all, humble.
- Have the humility to apologise for the mistake, and not hide behind corporate-speak.
- Do not dilute your apology (if there was one) with a side of punishment for an official to deflect attention away from the problem. We are not idiots – the timing is too obvious.
- Do not be so thin-skinned. When there is criticism, engage. Do not hide behind sanctions and by-laws just because by the letter of the law, you can.
Shamir, who used to work in LCS, and who I would call a friend, has a huge task on his hands to help FAS look better. I wish him all the best.
Written by Eddy Hirono
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