Safe Sport Commission Releases 1,000 Day Impact Report, Highlighting Progress of the Programme

• 431 safeguarding officers trained, 292 man-hours of workshops and outreach delivered, and 60 organisations onboarded onto the Programme.

• Senior Counsel Kuah Boon Theng and former national swimmer Joscelin Yeo appointed as new members of the Safe Sport Disciplinary Panel.

Singapore, 19 September 2024 – The Safe Sport Programme, a harmonised framework for safeguarding sport in Singapore, recently marked its 1,000th day. To commemorate this milestone, the Safe Sport Commission released an impact report to highlight the significant strides made to foster a positive sporting environment in the areas of policymaking, training and education and case management - the three central pillars of the Safe Sport framework.

Policymaking

Launched in November 2021, the Safe Sport Programme sets a comprehensive standard for safeguarding practices across the sporting community that has been widely embraced by athletes, parents, coaches, instructors, and sports administrators. To date, 60 sporting organisations have signed onto the national framework. Member organisations have incorporated the Safe Sport Unified Code into their organisational policies and governance documentations, as well as put in place mechanisms for reporting and responding to concerns. As a key signatory to the Safe Sport Programme, Sport Singapore (SportSG) has taken the lead to protect the well-being of its participants, which has impacted close to 150,000 persons under its initiatives, including ActiveSG facility users and Learn-to-Play programme participants, children and youths participants in the ActiveSG Academies and Clubs, Team Nila volunteers, Team Singapore athletes supported by the Singapore Sport Institute (SSI), and coaches registered with the National Registry of Coaches (NROC).

Training and Education

In the aspect of training and education, the Safe Sport Commission has been actively engaging the sporting community to nurture a culture of awareness and accountability across the sport organisations. As of 19 August 2024, the team has conducted 292 man-hours of workshops and outreach, trained 431 safeguarding officers across 138 organisations, and achieved a completion of 9,247 training modules. Through collaborations with the Singapore Institute of Architects and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), the Safe Sport Commission also continues to explore other aspects of safe sport, for example, how the design of the physical environment contributes to incidents of abuse and harassment, as well as understanding bystander behaviours.

Case Management

The streamlined case management service has been a crucial part of the Safe Sport Programme as it allows for independent investigation of reports of concern, which gives assurance to affected parties^[1] and respondents^[2] that reports will be managed fairly. It also relieves member organisations of the administrative burden of investigating serious cases and ensuring appropriately trained personnel are involved.

In the first 1,000 days, the Safe Sport Commission received 274 reports of concern, of which 126 reports were assessed to be related to misconduct under the Safe Sport Unified Code. The most number of reported cases were relating to physical and psychological misconduct, which comprise slightly over half (56%) of the total cases. Athletes (32%) represented the largest group of affected parties, while coaches (48%) represented the largest group of respondents. Majority of the misconduct cases (62%) were classified as low severity, while 21% and 17% were classified as moderate and severe cases respectively^[3].

Moderate and severe cases were referred to the Safe Sport Disciplinary Panel, where the Panel will ascertain the seriousness of the misconduct based on the degree of culpability and harm caused, and consider the aggravating and mitigating factors before coming to a decision on the appropriate measures or sections. Since it was first appointed in August 2022, the Safe Sport Disciplinary Panel, has convened nine hearings^[4] to date, and issued sanctions ranging from suspensions to permanent ineligibility. The outcomes of the hearings are listed in a disciplinary database. Apart from participating in hearings, the panel members also engaged in communities of practice^[5] with the Safe Sport Support Network and underwent training on trauma-informed approaches in the disciplinary process.

New Appointments in the Safe Sport Disciplinary Panel

Since 1 August 2024, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) has appointed the Safe Sport Disciplinary Panel members for its second term. The Panel, who will be serving for a three-year term, comprises eight legal practitioners and 12 members of the sporting community. The newly appointed members include:

• Ms Kuah Boon Theng, Senior Counsel, who is appointed the Safe Sport Disciplinary Panel Chair. She replaces Ms Molly Lim Kheng Yen, Senior Counsel, who has elected to step down. Ms Lim was instrumental in the first term, where she helped to set up the processes for investigation and hearing of cases.

• Former national athletes Ms Joscelin Yeo (swimming), who is also a Singapore Sport Hall of Famer, and Ms Quek Soo Teng (volleyball), who have been appointed as Ordinary Members.

• Former professional footballer Mr Sudhershen Hariram and current water polo athlete Mr Koh Jian Ying who have been appointed as Legal Members. The latter served as an Ordinary Member during the inaugural term.

• New Legal Member Mr Eugene Quah, partner at Matthew Chiong Partnership, who has served in a similar capacity at Singapore Disability Sports Council.

Ms Chan Yen San, Chairperson of the Safe Sport Commission, said, “I’m immensely proud of the progress we’ve made with our member organisations in the first 1,000 days of the Safe Sport Programme in fostering a safer, and more inclusive sporting community. This milestone wouldn’t have been possible without the independent adjudication provided by the Disciplinary Panel under the leadership of Ms Molly Lim. As we look ahead, I have full confidence in the appointment of Ms Kuah Boon Theng as the incoming Chair of the Disciplinary Panel. Her legal expertise in healthcare and ethics, combined with her experience in dispute resolution, will ensure that the highest standards of integrity and fairness in the disciplinary portion of the Programme are upheld.”

To view the full 1,000-day Impact Report, visit the Safe Sport Website. More information on the Safe Sport Programme can also be found in the Safe Sport Programme Handbook. For more information on the community agreed standards of misconduct, please refer to the Safe Sport Unified Code. The full list of the Safe Sport Disciplinary Panel members can be found here.

[1] Affected party refers to an individual who reports or experiences an act or acts of alleged or proven Misconduct.

[2] Respondent refers to a Person against whom a report is made alleging Misconduct.

[3] For more information on the classification of misconduct, kindly refer to the Safe Sport Programme Handbook.

[4] Numbers may not tally with the total number of moderate and severe cases as some cases could not be heard due to it happening too long ago, or pending court sentencing. The Disciplinary Panel convened its first hearing in June 2023.

[5] These sessions involved discussions on calibration of severity of misconduct.