Soh Rui Yong Drops Cases Against S’pore Athletics, They Will Now Work Together Again

Singapore Athletics Will Retract Statements Made About Soh Rui Yong

Update (7.02pm, 16 Oct): We’ve updated the article with Mr Soh’s comment below.

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Last year, national marathoner Soh Rui Yong was sensationally dropped from the list of athletes representing Singapore at the SEA Games.

This was amid several disputes Mr Soh had with Singapore Athletics (SA), the governing body for track and field here.

You can read about those cases here.

But today (16 Oct), SA published a statement, saying they’ve buried the hatchet with Mr Soh. In return, Mr Soh has agreed to withdraw the lawsuits he had against them.

Going forward, SA looks to work together with Mr Soh for the betterment of Singapore sports.

Singapore Athletics retracts statements about Soh Rui Yong

SA explains in the statement that the new leadership, Team Ground Up, wanted to address their legal issues.

To this end, they approached Mr Soh, and the end result is that they’ve agreed to end their disagreements.

The following were agreed on:

• SA will withdraw certain portions of their media statement from 3 Aug 2019, which include: “on several occasions breached [the Association’s] Athletic Code of Conduct” and “[f]or his transgressions, [the Association] had attempted to counsel and reason with him, as part of a holistic rehabilitation process”
• SA apologises to Mr Soh for inconvenience and distress for that statement
• SA stops disciplinary proceedings against Mr Soh which were started by outgoing management on 25 Sep 2020

Soh Rui Yong drops lawsuits, will work with SA

Meanwhile, per the statement, Mr Soh agrees to the following:

• To withdraw and discontinue his lawsuits against SA
• To work with SA and the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) to promote a positive image of the sport

Finally, SA says they’re committed to supporting Mr Soh as he competes for Singapore.

At the moment, Mr Soh is working to become the first Singaporean man to qualify for both the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

Mr Soh told MS News:

I believe that justice has been served in this case and am happy with the outcome.

He says he’s always loved competing for and representing Singapore when given the opportunity, and looks forward to donning the red and white again.

Moving on with positivity

It’s fair to say that the saga hasn’t given the best impression of Singapore athletics or its management.

However, SA initiated a peaceful settlement and both parties now agree to work together.

This can only be good for the sport as compared to the alternative. We hope that Singapore will experience more success in sports in future.

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Featured image adapted from Facebook and Facebook.