CONFLICT-RESOLUTION IN SPORTING ARENA

CONFLICT-RESOLUTION IN SPORTING ARENA

3.

Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) if he will provide an update on the conflict-resolution system in the sporting arena and whether there has been a rise of dispute cases; (b) whether his Ministry will provide a summary of the outcomes of these cases; and (c) whether any case has been referred to the Singapore Mediation Centre for resolution.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: In 2008, the Singapore Sports Council (SSC), Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to pool their resources and expertise to establish a framework for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for Sports in Singapore. The objective of sports ADR framework is to provide a structured, independent and cost effective avenue for the expeditious resolution of sports disputes.

Under the sports ADR framework, SSC will first attempt to informally counsel the disputing parties to reach a resolution, failing which SSC will encourage the disputing parties to go to either SMC for mediation or SIAC for arbitration. Disputing parties may also approach SMC or SIAC on their own without seeking SSC’s assistance.

The number of sports dispute cases that came to SSC’s attention from 2004 to present did not show any consistent trend, although there appeared to be a peak in the number of cases last year. The figures for the past few years are shown in the table below:

Column: 1093

Year: |

Cases: |

Cases referred for mediation: |

Outcomes: ---|---|---|---

2004

|

1

|

-

|

Resolved

2005

|

1

|

-

|

Resolved

2006

|

4

|

-

|

Resolved

2007

|

2

|

1 referred to SMC

|

Resolved

2008

|

8

|

1 referred to SMC

(In 1 other case, the parties went on their own to the Community Mediation Centre, and the dispute was resolved.)

|

6 cases were resolved.

In the 7th case, there was initial resolution but a follow-on dispute arose.

In the 8th case which was referred to SMC, the parties reached a contractual settlement at the conclusion of mediation, but dispute subsequently arose over the fulfillment of the terms of settlement.

2009

(January – present)

|

5

|

0

|

1 case was resolved.

4 cases are ongoing.

( Note : The above numbers exclude cases not concerning sports dispute or not involving athlete and/or coach – eg, cases concerning governance or management committee issues within the NSAs.)

SMC’s statistics show that in 2008, there were three cases in which the parties went directly to SMC for mediation, and all were resolved. This year, there is one case pending mediation.

**

**