A sports wish list for the New Year

Yee Chun Leong

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Friday, January 1, 2010

REMEMBER that hugely popular "makan bola, tidur bola, minum Coca-Cola" (eat and sleep football, drink Coca-Cola) 2006 World Cup advertisement?

A lot of Bruneians can relate to this ad and it's not surprising since football is the No 1 sport in the Sultanate.

Thus, it is rather ironic that the national football team and all the clubs in the country cannot play in international competitions due to a global suspension slapped by the Federation Internationale de Football Association on the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (Bafa).

On Sept 29 at its executive committee meeting in Rio de Janeiro football's governing body, Fifa, decided to ban Bafa for government interference in its affairs.

Fifa declared in a statement: "Bafa was suspended due to government interference in its affairs which started with a decision by the Brunei authorities to dissolve the Bafa and to replace it with a new association.

"The suspension applies with immediate effect and means that Brunei club DPMM FC will no longer be permitted to play in the Singapore League," the statement added. "The suspension will run until Bafa is reinstated by the government." Read More…

Source: The Brunei Times