Muay Thai Targets 2029

New body to send team to 2025 SEA Games, but 'ultimate goal' is home edition

- Deepanraj Ganesan

Hit by turmoil and negative publicity in recent years, Singapore Muaythai has received a new lease of life in 2025, with a new national governing body in place for the sport.

In June, the Singapore Muaythai Association (SMA) was officially recognised by the International Federation of Muaythai Associations (IFMA) as the governing body here.

SMA president Mike Tang said that work to start the association began in late 2023, as he was motivated by the "disorganised state of muaythai in Singapore and the need for proper governance".

The new governing body takes over from the Singapore Muaythai Federation (SMF), which had been hit by a spate of complaints in recent years.

In 2022, the Safe Sport Commission investigated separate complaints from two athletes against then national coach and team manager Robert Yap.

One athlete alleged that she was unfairly dropped from the national team and the SEA Games in Hanoi, and that the subsequent appeal process against her exclusion was conducted in an unsafe manner by the SMF.

Another former national athlete alleged improper and abusive conduct from Yap between 2014 and 2017.

Those allegations came on the back of four Singaporean muaythai exponents being informed at the 11th hour that a trip to compete in the IFMA Senior World Championships in Abu Dhabi was cancelled.

The athletes said at the time that the then national coach had attributed the cancellation to "a sponsor pulling out as the team could not guarantee a medal".

It led to athletes calling for greater transparency from the SMF. The association's membership and affiliation with the IFMA was eventually terminated in May.