Serious [ Singapore News ] Beware of Indian : Govindasamy Balasekaran of Singapore At

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

http://www.straitstimes.com/sport/se...athletics-says

SEA Games champ Soh Rui Yong objects to giving part of MAP award to Singapore Athletics, says it 'failed to adequately help' athletes ahead of KL event

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SEA Games gold medalist Soh Rui Yong feels the association is undeserving of the gesture.ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Published
Sep 16, 2017, 10:54 pm SGT
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Nicole Chia

SINGAPORE - National marathoner Soh Rui Yong, who retained his SEA Games gold in Kuala Lumpur last month, has protested against having to donate part of his award money to Singapore Athletics (SA).

He feels the association is undeserving of the gesture, following the bitter disputes and controversies that have plagued the organisation over the past year.

As an individual SEA Games gold medallist, Soh will receive $10,000 under the Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme (MAP), which provides a cash payout to athletes who win medals at the Olympic, Asian, Commonwealth and SEA Games.

The incentive scheme was devised by the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) in the 1990s. The Tote Board/Singapore Pools is the primary sponsor of the SNOC MAP awards.

Athletes are required to donate 20 per cent of the MAP awards from the SEA, Asian and Olympic Games to their national sports association (NSA) for future training and development. For the Commonwealth Games, the amount to be donated is 50 per cent.

Soh told The Sunday Times on Saturday (Sept 16) that he decided to lodge a protest because he believes "the 20 per cent of gold-medal prize money that every athlete is required to give back to the NSA should not be taken for granted".

The 26-year-old added: "For the 2017 SEA Games, SA has not only failed to adequately help our athletes, but it has also hindered the performance of several athletes with continued infighting, turmoil and poor administration."

Sprinter Shanti Pereira, who did not retain her 200m crown from the 2015 Games in Singapore, admitted after the KL Games that she had been affected by the discord, particularly that between her coach Margaret Oh and SA technical director Volker Herrmann.

On the day of the Aug 19 SEA Games marathon, Herrmann had allegedly shouted at Soh before the race as the latter had cut holes in his singlet to cope with the heat and humidity in Malaysia. Soh told The Sunday Times: "I think the fuss that SA kicked up over the holes in my singlet was the last straw."

On Thursday, Hermann acknowledged that his management methods needed adjusting though he insisted that some of the disputes with athletes were due to misunderstandings and that he only wanted them to reach their potential.

Soh acknowledged that he had signed a Team Singapore agreement stating that he would have to donate 20 per cent of his MAP prize money back to SA.

But he deemed this scenario an "exceptional case" where the NSA had not helped its athletes, adding: "I see this not as flouting the agreement but respectfully questioning the logic behind this rule, and exploring options if the intention of the rule (for example, thanking NSAs for helping the athletes achieve results) is not the case that is actually happening."

Instead, he has suggested that athletes use the percentage of the money to defray the expenses they incurred while preparing for the SEA Games, or donating it to a charity of their choice.

SA president Ho Mun Cheong told ST that he has no objections to Soh's protest, as long as the relevant authorities are in agreement on the matter.

"The money is for the athletes and they deserve it - they've trained so hard and they won gold for the country," he added. "If Michelle Sng (the high jumper who won athletics' other gold at the SEA Games) wants to do the same, I have no objections as well."






http://www.straitstimes.com/sport/le...oses-sa-strife

Conversation shows top local athletics official keen to find fault with 2 coaches

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SA vice-president (training and selection) Govindasamy Balasekaran is angry that photos of a Whatsapp conversation he was in have appeared in the public domain.ST FILE PHOTO

May Chen

Trouble continues to brew at Singapore Athletics (SA), casting a pall over the athletes' recent good showings and leaving track and field's bid to put up a creditable show at the SEA Games in doubt.

Photos of a WhatsApp conversation involving key officials and SA's Sports Development and Performance (SDP) team made its rounds yesterday, reflecting the internal turmoil within the sport's local governing body as well as the deep resentment officials appear to hold against each other.

The conversation was not dated, but it is believed the photos were taken during the Thailand Open last week, when a handful of athletes did well to post national records and personal bests.

In the conversation, SA vice-president (training and selection) Govindasamy Balasekaran was shown to be instructing staff to "get good evidence" to be shown to "P" - believed to be SA president Ho Mun Cheong - and "force him to get disciplinary action" on coaches Margaret Oh (sprint) and David Yeo (pole vault).

Balasekaran also wrote: "Margaret needs to get into trouble so we can take action on her."

SA staff such as technical director Volker Herrmann, SDP manager Ong Wan Xin and senior executive Shalindran Sathiyanesan were also part of said conversation.

Balasekaran had suggested in the WhatsApp group that the two coaches concerned are Ho's "favourites" and that evidence had to be sourced for the SA president so that he "will then shut up".

When contacted yesterday, the SA vice-president, besides being enraged that this was, to him, an "invasion of privacy", also suggested that the photos had been leaked by SA president Ho.

He has been at loggerheads with Ho for months. The discord within the SA top brass came to a head last month, when Ho called for an extraordinary general meeting to hold snap polls and elect a new management committee. The election did not happen after the meeting was called off a day before it was slated to take place.

Balasekaran said: "The text messages were taken out of context. It's a private conversation between people in my team.

"It's an invasion of personal privacy... was obtained illegally and being used against us to divide SA - again. It shows poor maturity."

When asked about his suggestion about obtaining evidence to get the coaches "into trouble", the SA vice-president said his team are merely working towards what they feel is best for the entire team.

The associate professor at the National Institute of Education, and head of its physical education and sports science department, said: "If she (Oh) doesn't go by the book, then we need evidence to do something. We are trying to get athletes together but the president is trying to undermine everyone.

"He (Ho) is not doing his job at all - he's been creating all the infighting. He's not a leader - simple as that."

:rolleyes: says the Typical Indian Snake slithering behind the scene to stab you in the back :rolleyes:
Attached Images

• fa-ruiyong-20170916.jpg (46.7 KB)
• ST_20170619_SPTBALA_3218263.jpg (30.0 KB)
• ST_20170619_SPTWHATS_3218221.jpg (125.2 KB)

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