The executive board of the Football Association of Thailand has approved the decision to pursue legal action against former chief Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang for alleged mismanagement that caused financial damage.
The FAT suffered a huge financial blow when the Supreme Court ordered the association to pay 360 million baht in damages to Siam Sport Syndicate Plc for the "unfair" termination of a privileges and TV rights contract last Thursday.
Pol Gen Somyot, who served as the head of the national association for two terms spanning eight years, had terminated the Siam Sport Syndicate contract in 2016.
Nualphan Lamsam took over the reins of the FAT in February last year, becoming the association's first-ever female 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 defendant was the former FAT chief and the executive board at that time," said Nualphan during a press conference at the FAT office on Tuesday.
In an attempt to help with the matter, a special campaign, "Thai people love Thai football", has also been approved for launch to raise funds to pay off the FAT's debt caused by the lawsuit and also for the development of the Thai national team.
The campaign will be divided into three parts, consisting of the sale of "Thai people love Thai football" T-shirts, donations, and fund-raising activities, details of which the FAT will announce later.
Meanwhile, Pol Gen Somyot said he sent a letter to the FAT, asking for clarification regarding claims made by Nualphan that he received 32 million baht in salary during his reign as FAT president.
"It was all over the media that I received a monthly salary of one million baht from the FAT and Thai League Co, totalling 32 million baht. My salary was nowhere near the figure she mentioned during the press conference. So I asked the FAT to provide evidence and documents about my salary during my time as president within seven days," he said.