The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) will take its former chief Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang to the court for leaving the national governing body with massive debt, reigning FAT president Nualphan Lamsam told a press conference on Tuesday.
The cash-strapped FAT suffered the latest blow when the Supreme Court ordered the association to pay 360 million baht in damages to Siam Sport Syndicate Plc for an "unfair" termination of a privileges and TV rights contract.
The Supreme Court's decision to throw out an appeal lodged by the FAT against an earlier ruling was announced on March 6.
The press conference was held to allow Nualphan, affectionately nicknamed Madam Pang by the Thai media, to present a report on her first year in office but it was dominated by talk of the burgeoning debt the FAT has to handle.
"The way things are, we will sue Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang, the former FAT chief, and the executive board at that time because all this happened during Somyot's era," said Nualphan.
Somyot had served as the head of the national association for two terms spanning eight years and had terminated the Siam Sport contract in 2016.
Nualphan took over the reins of the FAT in February last year following a landslide victory, winning a record 68 votes from 73 members to become the association's first-ever female president.
Nualphan burst into tears as she told the press conference: "When I came in, there was nothing. There was only debt in the FAT and I just asked for sympathy and encouragement from the football fans and media.
"These problems were left for me to solve. I am a woman with a kind heart, and I feel bad every time we talk about bad things," said Nualphan.
"After Somyot's era, the FAT had only 27 million baht in its account with a debt of 132 million baht. We also borrowed money from Fifa to the tune of another 155 million baht, and have to pay it in annual instalments with Fifa deducting the amount from our support money," she added.
Commenting on the Supreme Court ruling, Nualphan said: "The cancellation of the contract with Siam Sport caused significant damage to the Thai football industry.
"The 360 million baht has become a debt that the FAT will have to pay.
"I respect the judgment of the Supreme Court. The termination of the Siam Sports contract was not correct or fair, and it all happened before I took over as the FAT president.
"I have decided to bring this matter to the attention of the FAT executive board immediately because in the lawsuit under Section 76 of the Civil and Commercial Act, the second defendants were the former FAT chief and the executive board at that time."
Nualphan also spoke about the achievements made by the FAT under her leadership, placing special emphasis on the national team's performance in various tournaments and successful hosting of the Fifa Congress in Bangkok last year.