The Regulation of Sports in Singapore

The aim of this article is to deal generally with the various types of organisations involved with the regulation and administration of sports in Singapore and the sources of regulations and rules over sports.

Although many people would consider sports¹ an important part of life, it is an area where there is little direct regulation under the laws of Singapore. It was pointed out that in 1964, the autonomy of the national sports associations in Singapore was guaranteed in response to worries that government involvement might be too intrusive.² This is similar to the position in many other countries and is not a position peculiar to Singapore. In fact, the regulation of sport is not a matter that the European Union legislature is involved in.³ At the 1996 inter-governmental conference on the framing of the new Treaty of Amsterdam, the European Commission did not accept that there should be legally binding provisions applicable to sport in the new Treaty.⁴ However, this does not mean that sports organisations and their actions are not subject to the law, because they are.

The aim of this article is to deal generally with the various types of organisations involved with the regulation and administration of sports in Singapore and the sources of regulations and rules over sports. It also deals with how such organisations derive authority to regulate their sport and some aspects of how their activities are subject to the law. Although the Singapore position is the focus of this article, mention is also made of international sports organisations because most Singapore national sports organisations derive authority over their sport from the governing international federation.

Sports is administered and regulated at various levels and by various authorities. At one end of the spectrum, there is the referee or umpire. At the other end, there is control by an international federation, although in some sports there are competing international organisations trying to exert influence. In between, there are clubs, national associations, sporting event organisers and also direct and indirect regulation by government and other bodies.

Referee or Umpire

At the participation level, most sports would normally involve some physical activity within a set of rules regulated by the governing body. These rules usually give a referee or umpire power to regulate the sport on the playing field or on court. The powers are exercised summarily by the referee or umpire on the spot and their decisions are unlikely to be overturned by the court in normal circumstances.

For example, in the case of football,⁵ these would be the Laws of the Game, now in its fourth edition, put out by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (‘FIFA’). Under Law 12 of the Laws of the Game, a referee has the power to show a player the red card and send him off for seven types of misconduct on the field, that is when a player:

1. is guilty of serious foul play;
2. is guilty of violent conduct;
3. spits at an opponent or any other person;
4. denies the opposition team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball (although this does not apply to a goalkeeper within his own penalty area);
5. denies an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick;
6. uses offensive or insulting or abusive language and/or gestures; or
7. receives a second caution in the same match.
   

Rules of many sports also have something similar to Law 5 of the Laws of the Game which provides that in a football game, ‘The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with the play are final. The referee may only change a decision on realising that it is incorrect or, at his discretion, on the advice of an assistant referee, provided that he has not restarted play’.

Sporting Tribunals

Most sports are played according to a set of rules, and competitions also follow certain rules and procedures. The governing body or event organiser or their appointed officials usually does the administration and interpretation of those rules. Often, tribunals, juries or boards are formed to deal with a breach of the rules or disputes between various parties or appeals from a referee’s or umpire’s decision.

It is important that such governing bodies or tribunals act in a fair and reasonable way. Otherwise, their decisions may be challenged in the courts. An example of how a sports tribunal had not met the acceptable standard is the case of Singapore Amateur Athletics Association v Haron bin Mundir [1994] 1 SLR 47.

The case involved an appeal by the Singapore Amateur Athletics Association (‘SAAA’) to the Court of Appeal against a judgment of the High Court that, among others, nullified their decision for the suspension of Haron Mundir. The trial judge had found that the SAAA did not exercise their powers in accordance with the rules of natural justice and had been in breach of those rules in the conduct of their disciplinary proceedings. The Court of Appeal agreed with the trial judge on this point and dismissed the appeal against the judgment nullifying the suspension.

In dismissing the appeal, the Court of Appeal said that the function of the court, in relation to the proceedings of clubs, is a supervisory one and confined to the examination of the decision-making process, ie whether the rules of natural justice had been observed and whether the decision had been honestly reached. It also mentioned that the court’s function was not to review the evidence and the correctness of the decision itself, and instead of strictly adhering to the rigid definitions of the rules of natural justice, ie the rule against bias and the reasonable opportunity to be heard, the preferred approach should be that of a duty to act fairly.

Sports Governing Bodies

Sports governing bodies may be divided into international, regional, national and club or local-level organisations.

International organisations

At the international level, an international federation usually governs a sport. For example, the International Association of Athletics Federations governs athletics and football is regulated by FIFA. FIFA was founded in 1904 in Paris with seven members and has now grown to 85 members (see www.fifa.com/fifa/index_E.html, 21 October 2002). It governs the sport of football through its statutes, rules, regulations and standing orders and the Law of the Game. FIFA controls football through a large number of committees including the Executive Committee, Emergency Committee, Finance Committee, Referee’s Committee, Technical Committee, Sports Medical Committee, Players’ Status Committee, Committee for Legal Matters, Committee for Security Matters and Fair Play, Media Committee, Protocol Committee, National Associations Committee, Doping Control Sub-Committee, Disciplinary Committee and Appeal Committee (see www.fifa.com/committee/dir/index_E__230.html, 21 October 2002).

Sometimes, an international sports organisation may govern a competition or series of games. A prime example of this is the International Olympic Committee (‘IOC’) which is an international non-governmental non-profit organisation and the creator of the Olympic Movement (see www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/ioc/index_uk.asp, 21 October 2002). The IOC exists to serve as an umbrella organisation of the Olympic Movement and owns all rights to the Olympic symbols, flag, motto, anthem and Olympic Games and supervises the organisation of the summer and winter Olympic Games (see www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/ioc/index_uk.asp, 21 October 2002).

Regional organisations

In some sports, there is also a regional organisation involved. For example, in the case of soccer, there is the Asian Football Confederation (‘AFC’). The AFC was founded in 1954 in Manila with the objective to promote and administer the game of football in Asia, and was officially recognised by FIFA as the representative body of its membership in the same year (see footballasia.com/inside/afc/history.html, 20 October 2002). The original membership of 12 has grown to 45 today. It acts as intermediary and arbiter for the football-playing population under its care, and is responsible for the management of relationships between and amongst its members, the other continental confederations, FIFA and other organisations. The AFC is also responsible for compliance with all statutes, rules, regulations and standing orders of FIFA, the AFC and the Laws of the Game by its membership (see footballasia.com/inside/afc/history.html, 20 October 2002).

National organisations

Competitive sports in Singapore started largely along colonial and communal lines that encouraged exclusivity and thus segregation.⁶ There have been changes since independence, but sports in contemporary Singapore retains some of the earlier communal characteristics with sports like basketball, badminton and volleyball being mainly associated with the Chinese population and hockey and cricket largely the preserve of the Indians.⁷

At the national level, a sport is usually governed by a national sports association (‘NSA’). In the case of soccer, this would be the Football Association of Singapore (‘FAS’) which is a member of FIFA. The authority of the FAS over football in Singapore is greatly due to it being a member of FIFA. In fact, the stated objectives of the FAS include promoting and encouraging the playing of football in accordance with the Laws of the Game as laid down or approved from time to time by FIFA and to secure and maintain affiliation with FIFA and the AFC (see www.fas.org.sg/introduction.htm, 21 October 2002).

Clubs and local organisations

Below the level of the NSA would usually be various sports clubs and organisations that participate in that sport and are members or affiliates of the NSA. They join the NSA in order to participate in national competitions and international competitions of the sport or to be involved in the running of the NSA. For example, Home United FC and Sembawang Rangers FC are clubs participating in football competitions organised by the FAS.

Structure of organisations

Basically, sports organisations are formed by members who share a common interest and purpose, and such organisations’ power and influence over their sport is derived from the strength of the membership and their activities. Because such organisations do not normally have statutory or governmental authority over their sport, they only continue to be important and relevant if they do not lose their power and influence. If they do, there is always the possibility of a rival organisation or federation being set up to challenge their influence and their bid for spectator interest and sponsorship money. This can even happen at the highest level. For example, the World Chess Federation (‘FIDE’) is the sports governing body for chess. However, in 1993, Gary Kasparov broke away from FIDE to form the Professional Chess Association but it was dissolved in 1998. Sometimes, sports organisations would restructure their activities to pre-empt any potential breakaway threat like the UEFA did by expanding its Champions League.⁸

Sports organisations are sometimes formed as clubs or societies and sometimes as incorporated entities. For example, the SAAA is a society registered under the Societies Act (Cap 311).

Corporate law would normally regulate sports organisations that are incorporated, and the law relating to clubs and societies would govern sporting clubs and societies. This may be further complicated in the case of foreign or international sports organisations, since issues of foreign law will then be involved. For example, FIFA is an association under the Swiss Civil Code and, therefore, an organisation under Swiss law.

While it is usually possible to take legal proceedings against sports organisations, however they are constituted, this may not be the situation in every case. When some allegations were made about the IOC in the Swiss Parliament and a Swiss MP asked the government to launch an investigation, it transpired that this was not possible because the IOC had been granted legal immunity similar to that enjoyed by international organisations like the Red Cross.⁹

Government and Other Bodies’ Involvement

In Singapore, governmental and quasi-governmental involvement comes mainly by way of the Singapore Sports Council, the Ministry of Community Development and Sports and the Singapore National Olympic Council.

Singapore Sports Council

Since Singapore became independent in 1965, the government’s policy has been to promote sports to build a healthy population and use it as a means of generating racial harmony and nation building. Officially, the promotion of sports first came under a Sports Division created in the Ministry of Social Affairs in 1966. This was followed by the formation of a National Sports Promotion Board in 1971, which merged with the National Stadium Corporation to form the Singapore Sports Council (‘SSC’) in 1973. The SSC was established by the Singapore Sports Council Act (Cap 305) (‘SSCA’)¹⁰ as a body corporate with perpetual succession and all the usual powers of a body corporate (s 3(2) of the SSCA), and its members and employees are deemed to be public servants for the purposes of the Penal Code (Cap 224) (s 18 of the SSCA).

The SSC’s mission is ‘To foster a fit and healthy nation based on the policy of promoting participation in sports from the recreational to the high performance levels so as to enhance the quality of life and contribute to nation building’ (see www.ssc.gov.sg/history/shtml, 21 October 2002). Its corporate objectives are (see www.ssc.gov.sg/mission.shtml, 21 October 2002):

1. to promote sports as a way of life among Singaporeans by encouraging regular participation in sports and fitness activities in collaboration with various agencies;
2. to promote sports excellence through identifying, cultivating and nurturing a pool of potentially high performance athletes to be national sports heroes and role models;
3. to provide and co-ordinate the provision of quality sports facilities to Singaporeans and to keep such sports facilities accessible and affordable with quality service; and
4. to educate the general public and promote greater awareness on adopting a sporting lifestyle.
   

Most of SSC’s functions concern the planning, promotion and co-ordination of sporting activities in Singapore (s 8 of the SSCA), although it may recommend minimum standards for participation in international sports competitions (s 9(a) of the SSCA). However, being the body which NSAs would go to for official recognition as the national association for their sport and the source of funds for many sporting activities, the SSC wields a great deal of influence in sports in Singapore. It provides significant funding for many popular sports in Singapore, especially the seven core and nine merit sports.¹¹

An example of its influence is in the recent case concerning the sport of bowling. In August 2002, the SSC suspended funding to the Singapore Tenpin Bowling Congress (‘STBC’), which is the national sports association for bowling, as a result of ongoing investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department into the STBC’s financial matters.¹² In September 2002, it stepped in to form a Bowling Review Committee to have powers over fund management, team selection and major games preparation for bowlers in Singapore for a reported period of four to 12 months.¹³

Ministry of Community Development and Sports

With the launch of the Sports Excellence 2000 programme (‘SPEX 2000’) in 1993, a shift was made to focus partly on sporting excellence. In April 2000, the Ministry of Community Development was renamed Ministry of Community Development and Sports to signal the government’s resolve to pay more attention to sports development in Singapore.¹⁴ In September 2000, the Committee on Sporting Singapore (‘COSS’) was set up to forge a vision for a Sporting Singapore, to identify issues impeding the development of sports and to recommend specific initiatives for the future development of sports in Singapore. It is now in the process of doing so.

The Ministry has started to show its growing influence in sports in Singapore. On 18 September 2002, the Ministry together with the SSC, released a draft ‘Code of Governance for National Sports Associations’ (‘COG’) for consultation and feedback from the sporting fraternity.¹⁵ The COG is aimed at getting rid of poorly run NSAs with little financial accountability and management expertise.¹⁶ It is interesting to note that whilst the non-core and non-merit NSAs need not comply with Part II of the COG, involving sound financial management, democratic elections and other prudent management requirements, they are nonetheless encouraged to use it as a benchmark to improve their own effectiveness.¹⁷ It is expected that the final version of the COG will be published in December 2002.

Singapore National Olympic Council

The Singapore National Olympic Council (‘SNOC’ and formerly known as the Singapore Olympic and Sports Council) was formed in 1947 and recognised by the IOC in 1948.¹⁸ The SNOC: (a) has a small but autonomous set up; (b) promotes general interest in amateur sports in Singapore; (c) plans, selects and administers any Singapore team that participates in an IOC-sanctioned event; and (d) monitors teams that receive aid from the SSC.¹⁹ The SNOC’s main function is to promote the fundamental principles of Olympism at the national level within the framework of sports activities; and it also has an education arm, the Singapore Olympic Academy, that focuses on two areas viz Olympic Education and Olympic Studies.²⁰ It is also involved in the yearly organisation and promotion of the Olympic Day Run and the creation of a Museum at the National Stadium which highlights Singapore’s Olympic Games efforts as well as those of the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and the South-East Asian Games.²¹

Conclusion

With the government’s recent efforts to further promote sports for all, as well as to focus on sporting excellence, we are likely to see more sponsorship money and government funds going to sports in the future. In fact, the government has already accepted the interim recommendations of COSS and, together with the Singapore Pools, the government will be committing an additional S$500m to sports over five years. These developments should lead to an increase in sports participation and a growing sports industry. Going by the experience of other countries, like the United States and England, such developments have usually led to a corresponding increase in issues concerning the regulation of sports and sports organisations. Singapore is likely to see a similar development.

Richard Tan Ming Kirk
ShookLin & Bok

Endnotes