Criteria for Sportsman of the Year award

Question

Mr Lim Biow Chuan: To ask the Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) what are the criteria for the Sportsman of the Year award; and (b) what is the reason why the Sportsman of the Year award is not given out this year.

Response

Acting Minister Lawrence Wong: The Sportsman of the Year is part of the Singapore Sports Awards, which is a programme of the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC). SNOC is a non-government organisation affiliated with the International Olympic Committee. It forms a Singapore Sports Awards Selection Committee to select the award winners. This Selection Committee comprises sports administrators, athletes and sports journalists. SNOC informs the National Sports Associations (NSA) of the criteria for the Sportsman of the Year Award when they invite them to submit nominations. The NSAs nominate athletes for consideration by the Selection Committee, whose decisions are final.

The Selection Committee considers various factors, such as the sporting achievements of the athlete, the level of and standard of competition, and whether the athlete has been an outstanding role model or if his performance was particularly inspiring to the nation. Standards for the top awards such as the Sportsman of the Year are high given the rising sporting standards and achievements in Singapore. Indeed, this is the not the first year that the Selection Committee has not awarded the Sportsman of the Year. There were also no awards in 2009 and 2010.

I am confident that the Selection Committee has deliberated every nomination carefully based on its merits. We should respect the decision of the Selection Committee. At the same time, I encourage our athletes to continue to work hard, to raise their standards and achievements, and do themselves and Singapore proud.