sport 쐽 ●
SPORTSWORLD
Czech players
axed for partying
PRAGUE: The Czech Football
Association not only sacked
national coach Petr Rada (above)
on Wednesday after a string of
poor results, but it also expelled
six players for a breach of
discipline after the World Cup
qualifying loss at home to
Slovakia last week.
Forwards Milan Baros,
Martin Fenin and Vaclav
Sverkos, midfielders Radoslav
Kovac and Marek Matejovsky,
and defender Tomas Ujfalusi
reportedly indulged in a big
party after the game, the second
time players had been caught
drinking until the early hours.
REUTERS
Snooker’s new
condensed format
LONDON: The reputation of
snooker as one of sport’s more
traditional games is set to be
turned on its head by plans to
introduce a radical new
condensed format of the game.
Impressed by the success of
Cricket’s Twenty20, World
Snooker chairman Rodney
Walker is anxious to lure new
fans to the green baize with a
new format that would feature
the same number of colours but
only six reds, with games
intended to last an average of
six or seven minutes.
The game has a working title
of “Super6s”. Trials will take
place at this month’s World
Championships in Sheffield.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
US-Jamaica meet
useless: Powell
KINGSTON: Former 100m world
record-holder Asafa Powell is in
no hurry to take part in a sprint
clash between Jamaica and the
United States.
He said: “I don’t really see
the relevance of it because we
compete in so many meets on
the circuit every year, so to
have a one-on-one doesn’t
make any sense.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A-Rod still
MLB’s top earner
NEW YORK: The drug-tainted
Alex Rodriguez remained Major
League Baseball’s highest-paid
player as payroll details were
released with the start of the
new season.
He will earn US$33 million
(S$50.11 million) this year with
the New York Yankees. Next on
the list is Dodgers’ Manny
Ramirez (US$23.9 million).
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sponsorship for YOG affected by economy
BY MAY CHEN
GIVEN the current economic climate,
meeting the $50 million sponsorship tar-
get for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG)
might be a challenge.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Com-
munity Development, Youth and Sports)
Teo Ser Luck, who is also adviser to the
Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organis-
ing Committee (SYOGOC), said yester-
day that securing sponsorship has not
been going as smoothly as expected.
Speaking at a combined schools sports
meet at the Bedok Stadium yesterday, Mr
Teo said: “I would not say that it’s at the
milestone that we had originally forecast
or targeted, but I believe that things will
pick up as time goes by.”
He later added: “Based on the current
economic climate, we can’t expect to
meet every milestone.
“We can’t expect more companies to
offer sponsorships, because they also
have their own corporate targets to
meet.”
On top of the US$75 million
(S$113.9 million) the Government has set
aside to bear the bulk of the cost of host-
ing the inaugural Games, organisers had
hoped to raise $50 million in private sec-
tor sponsorship.
The SYOGOC confirmed that it has
managed to secure some cash sponsor-
ship, but did not reveal how much has
been received.
The organisers are now exploring oth-
er ways businesses can contribute to the
YOG.
For example, firms such as Deloitte
Singapore (official consultancy services),
Changi Exhibition Centre (logistics hub)
and Pilot Pen (writing instruments) have
stepped up to offer their services during
the Aug 14-26 Games next year.
While key Olympic sponsors under
The Olympic Partner Programme such as
JOY FOR SMALLER NSAs
Volleyball, hockey
among the 20 getting
more funding this year
BY TERRENCE VOON
& JONATHAN WONG
THE pie may be bigger but not all of Sin-
gapore’s national sports associations
(NSAs) will be enjoying a bigger slice of
Government funds this year.
Major sports like football and shooting
have suffered cuts in funding. But among
those who will be getting more are some
which will feature in the June 29-July 7
Asian Youth Games here. Six more NSAs
have also been added to the funding list.
Although the SSC did not reveal fig-
ures, a check by The Straits Times
showed that athletics, badminton, cue
sports, football, rugby, shooting, silat
and sepak takraw were among those who
have had funding cut.
On Wednesday, the Singapore Sports
Council announced that it would disburse
$34.1 million to NSAs for the financial
year that started on April 1. This was 5
per cent higher than last year’s $32.39 mil-
lion.
Despite the boost, 37 out of the 64
Maori culture on display
Bukit Panjang Government High and Bukit
Panjang Primary students showcasing New
Zealand culture at the Republic Polytechnic
yesterday.
The students spent their free time
researching New Zealand culture as part of
Samsung, Visa and McDonald’s will be-
come synonymous with the Games, Singa-
pore firms are also encouraged to come
forward. It will be a unique opportunity
for home-grown brands to be associated
with a global body like the International
Olympic Committee.
Said Mr Teo: “The sponsors continue
Ups and downs
Small sports on the rise
쐽 Netball: Joins the top tier of sports in
Singapore for the first time. It has been
allocated some $2 million, an increase of
over 40 per cent. A portion will be set aside
for the World Championship in 2011, which
will be staged here.
쐽 Volleyball: It has moved up a tier and its
funding has increased by 50 per cent to over
$200,000.
쐽 Six associations – boxing, ice hockey,
handball, modern pentathlon, muay thai and
wrestling – have also been added to the
funding list.
NSAs had to endure cuts. Only 20 re-
ceived more money, while seven got the
same amount as last year.
More money is being channelled to
sports which are featuring at the
nine-sport AYG, or who have done well
to garner grassroots participation.
The NSAs receiving increased grants
this year include bowling, hockey, net-
ball, swimming and volleyball.
THE STRAITS TIMES FRIDAY, APRIL 10 2009 PAGE D4
the Youth Olympic Games twinning
programme, Friends@YOG, which pairs a
local school with one or two of the other 204
National Olympic Committees.
During the YOG next year, there will be 205
booths by Singapore students , representing
every NOC, in the Youth Olympic Village at
Nanyang Technological University.
ST PHOTO: NURIA LING
to discuss with us what they can provide, 26-sport event nears. But the $50-mil-
in cash or in kind. lion target will remain for now.
“Of course, the sponsors are more will- Added Mr Teo: “As long as the compa-
ing to sponsor in kind than in cash. But nies who sponsor us see it as a win-win
anything is good, as long as it supports partnership and see it as value for their
the YOG.” company and value for supporting the
SYOGOC will monitor and moderate YOG, it has more or less achieved what
the sponsorship target, if needed, as the we set out to do.”
will get just $900,000 this year – a mas-
sive 25 per cent drop.
The association was penalised after its
former chief executive officer repeatedly
missed deadlines to submit its training
and development proposals last year.
Big sports who get less SAA president Loh Lin Kok claims they
쐽 Athletics: Tardiness in submitting its
will have to “break the bank” to survive
training and development proposals last year this year, and may use an estimated
resulted in the SAA’s annual grant being $800,000 from its reserves. He declined
slashed by 25 per cent to $900,000. to reveal how much reserves they have.
쐽 Badminton: Already facing a deficit from Another NSA which has been hit is the
last year, the Singapore Badminton Singapore Badminton Association. It will
Association will have to contend with just receive about $2.1 million in SSC grants
$2.1 million this year, a 12 per cent drop. this year – about 12 per cent less than the
쐽 Shooting: Another top-tier sport that has estimated $2.4 million it got last year.
seen its funding cut marginally to about To keep costs in check, the SBA will be
$2 million.
쐽 Football: A slight reduction in funds will
implementing a hiring freeze on full-time
staff, said chief executive Edwin Pang.
see the Football Association of Singapore
getting less than $2 million.
“We will also be sending shuttlers to
compete in nearby countries, so as to
save on airfare, and getting coaches to
double up as team managers during over-
seas tournaments,” he added.
Volleyball is among those with the big- Even big guns, like the Football Associ-
gest increase. It will get more than ation of Singapore, are tightening their
$200,000, up 50 per cent from last year. belts. Aside from reducing staff strength,
This is to help fund athletes’ training for the FAS has been increasing the number
the AYG and to hire more staff. of matches it organises to boost revenue,
Athletics – which delivered just one of said general secretary Winston Lee.
the 45 track and field golds on offer at the It is also on the lookout for training
trips subsidised by host countries, like
2007 Korat South-east Asia Games – was
the one the national team took to the Mid-
one of the hardest hit. dle East last year.
The Singapore Athletic Association But while the SSC may have come
down hard on several NSAs – funding to
sports like silat and athletics has been
withheld pending compliance with SSC re-
quirements – Senior Parliamentary Secre-
tary (Community Development, Youth
and Sports) Teo Ser Luck gave the assur-
ance that the sports and their athletes
will not suffer.
Referring to underperforming NSAs,
he said: “If we need to take over, we will
take over, to make sure that the training
is not disrupted. While doing that, we al-
low the NSAs some time to sort out their
internal issues.”
tvoon@sph.com.sg
jonwong@sph.com.sg