Safeguarding Singapore's National and Elite Athletes from Misuse of Drugs

16 Dr Wan Rizal asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether there are measures implemented to protect Singapore's carded athletes from the misuse of drugs; and (b) if so, what are they.

17 Mr Darryl David asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether the Government or National Sports Associations (NSAs) have any programmes to educate national and elite athletes about the dangers and pitfalls of using recreational drugs and performance-enhancing drugs; and (b) whether the Government or NSAs have any programmes that regularly test their national and elite athletes for recreational drug use and performance-enhancing drug use.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (Mr Eric Chua) (for the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth): Mr Speaker, with your permission, may I take Question Nos 16 and 17 together?

Mr Speaker: Yes, please.

Mr Eric Chua: Thank you. The Government established Anti-Doping Singapore (ADS) as the national anti-doping authority in 2010. SportSG works with ADS and the broader sporting fraternity to ensure that sport in Singapore is free of doping and that our national athletes compete fairly and safely, and that they can be upheld as role models for Singapore and Singaporeans.

At the national level, Singapore has a clear, well-established policy on drugs. In the context of sport, Singapore has a framework of rules and standards to keep sports in Singapore free of doping, including the use of both recreational drugs and performance-enhancing drugs. It aims to equip our national athletes with the information, tools and values for them to exercise sound judgement and choices when it comes to the use of drugs.

There are two key strategies in which this is implemented: (a) through education and prevention; and (b) through detection and deterrence. Let me elaborate.

One, education is a key preventive measure to discourage intentional or inadvertent doping, and this is done through various platforms.

First, all National Sports Associations (NSAs) are expected to inform and educate their athletes and athlete support personnel on issues concerning sports doping under the framework.

Second, ADS works with NSAs to plan, implement and monitor education programmes for athletes. These comprise regular updates on issues, such as the currency of prohibited substances and methods, the health consequences of doping, and the rights and responsibilities of athletes. ADS also reminds NSAs and their athletes on their anti-doping obligations at all pre-Major Games briefings.

Third, it is mandatory for all national athletes to complete modules on the World Anti-Doping Agency's e-learning platform called the Anti-Doping Education and Learning (ADEL) Platform, to deepen their understanding of clean sports.

To prevent inadvertent doping, ADS provides the "Check Drugs" function on its website to enable athletes and support personnel to check on the prohibited status of a particular drug or substance. The database contains more than 9,000 medications registered in Singapore and is updated monthly. For medications not on the database, athletes can and should check with a sports physician or with ADS directly.

Two, on the detection and deterrence front, ADS oversees a robust doping testing regime.

First, ADS develops and regularly reviews a test distribution plan for athletes, with higher testing frequencies for athletes assessed to be at higher risk of doping. Several factors are considered in determining the risk level of doping, such as the athlete's performance and the type of sports. ADS' testing regime covers both in-competition and out-of-competition tests.

Second, ADS also relies on intelligence, such as whistle-blowing sources, to identify and investigate allegations of drug abuse, including following up to conduct tests on alleged offenders.

Under the ADS, sanctions are imposed on athletes found to have violated anti-doping rules. These range from a few months to a lifetime ban, depending on the degree of fault, intention, type of substance used and aggravating circumstances. These sanctions are made public to send a deterrent signal to others.

Other sanctions may also be imposed. For instance, SportSG could suspend the spexScholarship or other support offered to a carded athlete. The NSA may also suspend training support for the athlete or their selection for competitions. The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) or the Singapore National Paralympic Council (SNPC) may also, separately, suspend the selection of the athlete for any Major Games for the appropriate period.

Notwithstanding the range of sanctions that can be taken, it is also important to consider a rehabilitative approach to help the athlete not to offend again. The sporting community will work with the athletes to provide counselling and rehabilitative support they may need.

The Government and the local sporting fraternity looks upon the misuse of drugs as a serious matter. SportSG, ADS and the fraternity will continue to work together to underscore the importance of complying with Singapore's laws on drugs and anti-doping rules at all times.

Mr Speaker: Mr Darryl David.

Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): I would like to thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his comprehensive reply both on education and also on deterrence. Just one supplementary question, Mr Speaker, on the aspect of education.

I agree with the Senior Parliamentary Secretary that this is key as a preventive measure. Given that many of our national athletes or perhaps, many of our athletes, get competitive much earlier on – in school, perhaps – would ADS and SportSG consider working with the relevant authorities or the relevant Government agencies to go further upstream in terms of providing education to our younger competitive athletes who would, obviously, hopefully, become national athletes, seeing as to how the youths could be a bit more impressionable, to have these education programmes further upstream such that they are aware of the pitfalls of using recreational and performance-enhancing drugs in their athletic endeavours?

Mr Eric Chua: Mr Speaker, I thank the Member Mr Darryl David for his question. I will make a broad point about what Mr Darryl David has mentioned.

The pursuit of excellence in sport is not just limited to the technical aspects of it. I think this is consistent across sports, cultures and jurisdictions, if I may put it that way. In my recent visit to Europe, where I visited a few sporting centres of excellence – if I may call them that – in terms of football, I think the consistent message that has been sent is that they – these academies, these football clubs – they want to produce and create excellent footballers but, more than that, they also want to produce good individuals, individuals with good values.

As much as the pursuit of sporting excellence is about fitness, technical competencies of each sport, it is very much also about values inculcation, the promulgation of values from one generation to the next.

In that vein, coaching, as well as the role that coaches play, is a very important role that cannot be overstated in the sporting fraternity. That, I agree with Mr Darryl David.

So, there can be a lot of scope for us – ADS, SportSG, SNOC and the different sporting bodies – to work together with the schools and MOE without even going into specifics and, definitely, I thank the Member for his suggestion.

3.01 pm

Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question Time. The Clerk will now proceed to read the Notice of Motion.

[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix, unless Members had asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn.]