Complaints or Appeals Received Regarding Selection of Junior Athletes at National Sports Associations

Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) how many complaints or appeals regarding selection processes for junior athletes in National Sports Associations have been received in the past five years, that the Government is aware of; (b) of these, how many were investigated; and (c) what safeguards exist to ensure that selection is fair, transparent, and not influenced by socio-economic background, if any.

Fair and transparent processes to select athletes to represent Singapore in competitions are important in ensuring that TeamSG athletes achieve the best results possible and more young Singaporeans continue to be inspired to pursue sports excellence.

National Sports Associations (NSAs) are responsible for fair and transparent athlete selection policies. The Government does not track complaints or appeals regarding selection processes for junior athletes in NSAs. Sport Singapore (SportSG) and the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) require NSAs to (i) adopt guiding principles for developing their policies; (ii) maintain clearly documented merit-based criteria that are communicated to athletes well in advance of selection processes; and (iii) submit their policies to SportSG and SNOC for review before publication to ensure they meet the required standards. These criteria focus on sporting performance and potential and does not consider socio-economic background.

Athletes not selected can appeal to their NSA based on (i) new information; or (ii) concerns about the openness, transparency and fairness of the selection process. NSAs have an established appeals process featuring independent appeal committees separate from the original selection panels. This structure ensures a fair avenue for athletes to seek recourse.

Where necessary, such cases can be escalated via an Alternative Dispute Resolution framework set up by SportSG to resolve disputes that cannot be resolved through the standard appeals process.

Athletes who have concerns about selection processes can approach their respective NSAs, SportSG and SNOC for advice and assistance.