Soh Rui Yong Selected to Represent S’pore Again for 2023 SEA Games

Last Updated on 2023-03-29 , 10:20 am

The SEA Games is always an exciting affair.

After a five-year hiatus, top national marathoner Soh Rui Yong will finally represent Singapore again.

Here’s what you need to know.

Soh Rui Yong’s Comeback

Soh posted a screenshot of an article from The Straits Times announcing his return to the track on both his Facebook and Instagram accounts.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Soh Rui Yong 🇸🇬 (苏睿勇) (@runsohfast)

He wrote, “I’ll keep this simple. We back!”

Short and sweet.

His upcoming comeback ends a more than five-year absence from major competitions.

Soh’s absence was mainly due to several disputes with the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC).

The 31-year-old had been summoned from London, where he is pursuing a law degree at University College London, to face a special appeals committee last week.

The committee comprised of:

• Bowler Shayna Ng
• Former Singapore Sepak Takraw Federation president Abdul Halim Kader
• Lawyer Michael Palmer
• Former national taekwondo athlete S. Sinnathurai
• Fencing Singapore president Juliana Seow 
• Chief of Singapore Sport Institute Su Chun Wei

These people are important in sports, so you know it’s serious business. 

According to The Straits Times, Soh was informed of his successful appeal on 23 March by Singapore Athletics (SA).

Though he declined to reveal any details of the hearing, Soh paid tribute to SA president Lien Choong Luen for “working hard behind the scenes to make this possible”.

He also thanked SNOC for giving him a chance after his past mistakes.

Soh has met the qualifying mark for the 5,000m and 10,000m. 

However, he will not compete in the marathon as he did not race in one in 2022.

He had previously won gold for the event at the 2015 and 2017 games.

Last June, he registered his 10,000m national record of 31min 12.05sec in the England Athletics’ Championships.

For reference, Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Lai clinched gold in 32:17:34 last SEA Games.

Soh said, “It is exciting to be back but my first thought is whether I have enough time to prepare.”

The athlete only has less than six weeks to scout his competition. In the past, he had six months to prepare.

He added, “I will do all I can to prepare between now and race day.”

Disputes with SNOC

Soh has an excellent track record, so why did he have a five-year absence from major competitions?

Well, there are several reasons.

His disputes with SNOC began back in 2017.

He had received a formal warning from SNOC due to infringing regulations regarding promoting personal sponsors during a blackout period ahead of the Kuala Lumpur games that year.

Despite repeated reminders, he did not fully comply with removing the infringed social media posts. 

Soh got into hot water again in 2018 when he reacted to a social media post of marathoner Ashley Liew.

At the 2015 SEA games, Liew was the only runner to take the correct marathon route and even got ahead of everyone else.

However, he slowed down to let others catch up before resuming his usual speed.

Soh won the race, while Liew finished in eighth place.

For his sportsmanship, Liew won an international accolade and a special recognition from SNOC.

Soh disputed that Liew had slowed down through social media posts between June 2015 and August 2019.

Liew sued him for defamation.

Soh was found guilty and ordered to pay S$180,000.

He appealed the decision.

However, a High Court judge dismissed the appeal in March 2022.

Soh garnered controversy again when he sued SA and former SA vice-president and executive director Malik Aljunied for defamation.

Despite meeting the qualifying mark, he was not selected for the Manila SEA Games.

SNOC said that Soh “displayed conduct that falls short of the standards of attitude and behaviour that the SNOC expects of and holds its athletes to”.

The comment prompted him to sue for defamation. 

In October 2020, he dropped his defamation suit.

In June 2022, he lost his defamation suit against Malik.

Redemption Arc

In February 2022, Soh was not selected for the Hanoi SEA Games.

This time, he publicly apologised to SNOC on his social media platforms.

In one Instagram post on 17 February 2022, he wrote, “I’ll take it in my stride and continue to work on becoming better.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Soh Rui Yong 🇸🇬 (苏睿勇) (@runsohfast)

Despite this, he was omitted from the list of athletes representing Singapore at the Asian Games.

He penned another apology to SNOC again in October 2022 via an open letter.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Soh Rui Yong 🇸🇬 (苏睿勇) (@runsohfast)

He wrote, “I unreservedly apologise to the SNOC for any statements I may have made on these issues that may be construed as disparaging.”

He also penned his wish to run for Singapore again.

In addition, Soh took action to demonstrate turning over a new leaf.

He said, “As per SNOC’s request, I have taken down all my posts from April 2019 onwards that may be seen as disparaging to SNOC, and have written to third-party publishers to request that they do likewise.”

Netizen Response

Since announcing his return to the track, Soh’s Facebook post has garnered 1.8k likes.

Netizens were generally supportive of his return, congratulating him.

Others wrote that it was good to have the athlete back.

Some netizens commented puns on his name, welcoming him back.

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Reasons for the Successful Appeal

On 25 March, a SNOC spokesperson said, “Over the last few years, Soh Rui Ying has demonstrated behaviour which the SNOC found unacceptable and unbecoming of a national athlete, which resulted in his non-selection at the 2019 and 2021 SEA Games.”

Discussion to allow Soh’s return to major competitions began in April 2022.

The spokesperson added, “Earlier this week, the SNOC Appeals Committee for SEA Games 2023 met with Soh and is satisfied with the progress he has made.”

“The SNOC hopes he continues to make further progress to repair the damage caused in the past.”

Lien described the news as a “win for the sport”.

He added, “I’m looking forward to not just good on-track performances from Soh, but also exemplary conduct from him off the track.”

Soh will be representing Singapore at the Cambodia SEA Games in May.

He is now part of Singapore’s 561-strong contingent.

Singapore will compete in 30 sports this year.

The SEA games will be held from 5 May to 17 May.