TALENT SPORTS New Update 2023
The Foreign Sports Talent Scheme (FST), initially known as Project Rainbow, was a scheme used by sports officials and organisations in Singapore to scout and facilitate the migration of non-Singaporeans deemed to possess sports talent to play in Singapore colours in sporting events. Introduced in 1993 by the Singapore Table Tennis Association,it also aimed to boost local sporting standards by importing sporting expertise.
In March 2008, it was announced in the Parliament of Singapore that 54 athletes had benefited from the programme and received Singapore citizenship, of which 37 were still in active training.
As of November 2009, 4.6 per cent, or 39 athletes, of the total number of national athletes in Singapore are foreigners who are brought in through the scheme. The majority of the foreign sports talent are 19 for badminton and 11 for table tennis
The achievement of Singapore’s women’s table tennis team in winning a silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the country’s first Olympic medal since 1960, reignited debate over the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme. Some critics said that the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) has relied too much on it, as the team comprised three China-born players, Feng Tianwei, Li Jiawei and Wang Yuegu.
A day earlier, STTA president Lee Bee Wah had said: “It doesn’t mean that we should look at them [foreign-born table tennis players] differently because they’re not born and brought up in Singapore. The important thing is that they have embraced Singapore and want to be a part of it. And they wanted so badly to win a medal for our country. We should not be harping on where they are born. I hope mindsets change. In addition, during his Mandarin National Day Rally speech on 17 August, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said
TALENT SPORTS
ON
BADAR-4/5 @26°E
ID: TALENT SPORTS
TP:11011 V 27500
MPEG-4 HD FTA STARTED.
TALENT SPORTS
ON
INTELSAT-20 @68°E (KU BAND)
TP:12600 V 26650
ID: TALENT SPORTS
MPEG-4 HD FTA STARTED.
NOTE:
Not Coverege in Pakistan.