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Athletes who feel they have not been fairly treated in the selection process to represent Singapore in major games can submit appeals to the Singapore Sports Council (SSC). They can also be assured that their case will be treated with transparency and professionalism.
This was a written answer to Mr Zaqy Mohamad's question, posed to the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, on the current assessment of the selection of athletes to represent Singapore, in light of the recent dispute between triathlete Gino Ng and the Triathlon Association of Singapore. He also questioned the measures in place to ensure the meritocratic selection of sportsmen in competitions.
Triathlete Gino Ng was passed over in the selections for the SEA Games, and wanted a deliberation of the case. In Mr Ng's case, it was brought before the Singapore Mediation Centre, and both parties reached an amicable settlement through mediation.
'To prevent similar disputes from taking place, SSC will work with the National Sports Associations (NSAs) to professionalise the athlete selection and management processes,' Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said.
'SSC is now working with NSAs to adopt a Code of Athlete Management (COAM), which spells out how NSAs should manage their athletes. The Code covers the roles and responsibilities of the NSAs and athletes, and will help the NSAs to be fair and transparent,' he added.
Currently, the Singapore National Olympic Council sets the qualifying standards for various sports to determine which athletes would represent Singapore at major Games. The NSAs will then conduct selection trials for their athletes and nominate them for SNOC's consideration.
For instance, the qualification mark for all sports at the 2007 SEA Games is the third place timing of the previous SEA Games, or a third placing among SEA Games athletes in the current rankings.
An athlete who is not nominated by the NSA can appeal to the NSA, where an Appeals Committee will review the case. For athletes nominated by the NSAs and are not selected by the SNOC, the NSAs may submit an appeal to the SNOC.
The SSC has also launched the framework for Alternative Dispute Resolution for Sports (ADR Sports) where it aims to cater to a broad spectrum of issues like athlete selection, liability and commercial rights, to ensure sports related disputes are solved in a professional manner.
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