Agu Casmir

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Agu Casmir / is a professional soccer player who played for the Singapore national football team. He was born in Nigeria, but took up citizenship of Singapore in 2004. He was a member of the Singapore team which won the Tiger Cup regional football championship in 2005. A former player for the Young Lions in Singapore's S.League, Casmir is currently contracted to Woodlands Wellington. He was part of the 2005 SEA Games squad.

[edit] Controversy

Controversy arose over Agu Casmir when local press in Singapore reported his absence in January 2006. It was reported that Casmir signed a contract with Indonesian football club Persija Jakarta and that he took a signing-on fee of US$20,000. However, he did not report for training, claiming to be attending football trials with a Russian club and the club subsequently sought repayment of the fee from his agent, ex-footballer Jules Onana.

It was consequently reported on the February 19, 2006 in The Straits Times that Agu Casmir had purportedly been in Canada and had no intention of further pursuing a career in football. The report quoted Agu Casmir's ex-manager, R. Vengadasalam, as saying that Casmir was disillusioned with football and had no intention of returning to Singapore. He had taken the contract to prove that he could still command a large annual fee (reported at US$80,000).

After a few weeks, reports emerged that he wanted to return to playing football in Singapore. Several football clubs including Gombak United FC had expressed interest in inviting him to play for their team, before he re-signed for former club Woodlands Wellington on a one-year contract, under a deal in which the club would re-pay Persija his signing-on fee.

The Football Association of Singapore suspended him from the national squad for a year and fined him S$20,000, for his actions involving Persija Jakarta.^{[citation needed]}