Amidst many theories and discussion over Sundram's departure, the FAS President revealed in a televised interview that frequent squad disruptions played a part as well
FAS President Zainudin Nordin, who has been in the news lately following a MediaCorp interview two weeks ago, made another televised appearance, this time on ChannelNewsAsia, where he spoke of Sundram's exit and reiterated that the coach was keen on pursuing a new challenge.
However when pressed on whether there were other deciding factors behind Sundram's exit, besides money and the pursuit of a new challenge, Zainudin revealed that the restrictions he had faced in squad selection had played a part as well.
In his two-year tenure with the LionsXII, one of Sundram's biggest bugbear had been the unavailability of players. A slim squad that was frequently decimated by injury lay-offs was further shorn of players due to National Service (NS) call-ups.
Players in NS who had used up their annual leaves to play for the LionsXII were often unable to find release from their active duties. Shakir Hamzah was most infamously found guilty of going AWOL from duties in June, after linking up with the LionsXII for an away game, and was handed a four-day sentence in the detention barracks. Full story
