Young Lions, runner Soh get SEA Games reprieve

After successful appeals, the national men's Under-22 football team and two-time marathon champion Soh Rui Yong are set to be part of Team Singapore's contingent for the Dec 9-20 SEA Games in Thailand.

- Deepanraj Ganesan

In a media statement, the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) said that its appeals committee met on Aug 28 to consider additional nominations submitted by national sports associations for the biennial meet. Following the review, 218 athletes from 29 sports were approved for selection.

They will join the 762 athletes selected earlier this month, taking the total number of athletes in the Singapore contingent to 980 across 48 sports—the Republic's largest in SEA Games history.

The SNOC added in the statement: "The final contingent will be confirmed and announced closer to the Games, after the completion of the entry-by-name process set out by the SEA Games organisers."

Despite meeting the 2hr 35min 49sec qualifying mark by clocking 2:27:49 at the Houston Marathon in January, Soh was omitted from the initial list of athletes released on Aug 6.

The SNOC said then that its selection committee did not support Soh's nomination and highlighted its commitment to sending athletes "who not only meet the performance benchmarks but also uphold the values and behaviours expected of Singapore's national representatives".

Soh, who won SEA Games marathon gold in 2015 and 2017, was previously not selected for the editions in 2019 and 2022, as well as the 2018 Asian Games, following clashes with the SNOC.