Clubs in Singapore ordered to wind down ops

Seven clubs in the Asian country failed to meet the criteria and were given six months to wind down operations.

Singapore.- The Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore revealed that seven clubs that operate jackpot machines in the country failed to meet the new criteria to run such facilities and were granted six month interim permits to wind down operations by April 2018.

The statement from the Ministry comes after new and tighter regulations for fruit machines released this month. The new rules include the restriction of people under 21 inside gambling facilities, and limited operating hours from 10 am to 11 pm. Two of the clubs involved have already submitted appeals, and said that revenue from those operations was destined to pay off their debts and build up their coffers.

Gombak United FC chairman John Yap said: “Every club would hope to make their club a successful commercial model but (that) means being able to attract good sponsors. In the context of Singapore, for us, as with many other clubs, we have problems attracting sponsors … (If our appeal gets rejected,) we may have to take drastic action and maybe consider closing our club in the long term if we are unable to continue the funding from the jackpot machines.”

Moreover, Tanjong Pagar United FC chairman Edward Liu added: “We had accumulated some debts that we took many years to repay. Now, our accounts is probably the most healthy it has been in the last 20 years of operations. We hope the authorities will review … and understand our football aspirations.”