It has been looming on the horizon but the time has finally come – Singapore has said no in the face of escalating broadcast rights fees.

By declining to provide extra funds for Mediacorp to secure live coverage of the Olympics, the Government is sending a clear message: It will not be held to ransom by broadcast rights holders.

One can say that the writing was on the wall. Ever since Singtel’s excessive 2009 bid for the English Premier League, Singapore’s broadcaster and pay-TV operators have earned a reputation for being able and willing to pay top dollar for televised sports.

As far as rights holders were concerned, it set the tone for future negotiations.

The 2010 World Cup was secured only 35 days before kick-off as both sides pushed for a better deal.

Last season, Spain’s La Liga was screened only four months into the campaign.

But, with less than two weeks to the Olympics, where Team Singapore could return with their best medal haul, one wonders if this fiasco could have been avoided with better planning.

Yes, bottom lines have to be respected.

If broadcasters are unable to monetise the Olympics coverage, in part due to the Games’ odd hours that are unattractive to advertisers (Rio de Janeiro is 11 hours behind Singapore), it would be unwise to fork out an astronomical sum.

Yes, with escalating broadcast rights fees, as Singaporeans have experienced first-hand with the World Cup and English Premier League, perhaps it is time to draw the line and say enough is enough.

The escalating cost is not helped by the International Olympic Committee’s decision to award broadcast rights to a third party – one whose primary concern is to maximise profit – over a national broadcaster like Mediacorp.

But there are valuable – and painful – lessons to be learnt here.

First, Dentsu was awarded the rights in 2013 and opened talks with Mediacorp the same year.

It is hard to understand how, after three years, no deal for live coverage could be struck, especially as the 16 other territories under Dentsu have already done so.

Second, for the sake of viewers, it is imperative that the Government and local broadcasters decide once and for all the importance of beaming the Olympics live, and find a balance between commercial viability and national interest.

One alternative could be the national broadcaster and the telcos combining to submit a joint bid, as was the case when Singtel and StarHub bid for the 2010 World Cup to share costs.

Last year’s Budget saw annual funding for Mediacorp rise by 28 per cent to $250 million over five years. Can more of that be set aside for major events like the Olympics, especially if Singapore continues toproduce more world-class athletes?

The private sector can also step in, by way of sponsorship for Olympic programming. Companies like Samsung, McDonald’s and Panasonic are all Olympic sponsors. Why couldn’t they be persuaded to come on board locally?

Broadcasters and pay-TV operators need to be consistent with the message they are sending.

Can Singapore claim to be serious about promoting local sports when it can pay more than $200 million for three seasons of English Premier League action, but baulk at spending less than 5 per cent of that on the Olympics, where 25 of the nation’s best athletes are pushing themselves to their limits?

Are we taking ourselves seriously as a sporting nation if we invest $40 million in high- performance athletes but, when they have reached sport’s grandest stage, deprive them of sharing the moment with their supporters?

Broadcast rights fees are only going to increase. Which is why, painful as it will be to miss out on a potentially monumental 2016 Olympics, all parties need to start planning to avoid a repeat four years from now.

This article was first published on July 24, 2016.
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You’ve been waiting for roughly 1,400 days. Doesn’t matter if you’re Usain Bolt the legend; Paulo Amotun Lokoro, the former cattle herder and now 1,500m runner from South Sudan; Kathleen Baker, the US swimmer with Crohn’s disease; or Jasmine Ser, the Singapore shooter. Everyone has to wait for the Games.

Everyone has to endure 1,400 days of alarms going off – unless you take Sundays off. You can’t explain to people that most mornings something aches. Some mornings everything aches. But this life, and these hands blotched with torn skin that rower Saiyidah Aisyah has, this is your choice. This life where you have awful days, unwell days, unlucky days, rainy days, good days, birthdays, you can’t stop.

You get up like Quah Zheng Wen at 4.45am and dive into a cold pool. You leap into a wet sandpit on a dripping day. You run past garbage in the lanes of a slum. You’re 10,000 different athletes from more than 200 nations with stories of poverty, luck, hard work, comebacks, setbacks but heading to one destination.

Rio.

You’ve been waiting 1,400 days but your journey has been much longer. Maybe 10 years or 15 and you need to thank somebody. Or blame someone. Your mother took you to gymnastics class, your teacher suggested you try rowing. That’s it. You were hooked, inspired and damned.

Your life for 1,400 days is spent driving yourself. Past anxiety, past injury, past finish lines, past the next competitor. Your desire to win is primitive, like an ancient human on a hunt. You tell people you “hate to lose” and they nod but they have no idea about the competitiveness that courses through you. If they did, they’d be appalled. You can’t explain the perfectionist that squats in your brain, till your obsessiveness feels like a curse. Joseph Schooling refuses to watch a TV series, just to keep himself from distraction.

People see the crowds in stadiums and think you’re lucky but no one watches your endless days at practice. No one sees table tennis star Feng Tianwei hit backhands on lonely evenings. No one sees the bloody blisters of the runner in Africa. No one really cares about your daily suffering. Except your mum who drops you to practice and your dad who made your lunch and your coach who can’t shut up.

You’re a natural, a thinker, a worrier, an optimist, an egotist, a choker. You come in all sizes and all neuroses. You nod when you hear that Chris Hoy kept a mattress next to his stationary cycle: When he was exhausted he just fell onto it. You grin when you hear that Herb Brooks, the US ice hockey coach at the 1980 Winter Olympics, told his team: “You don’t have enough talent to win on talent alone.”

Then you do another sit up.

You’ve spent too many days of those 1,400 days trying to shave .05 of a second from your timing or fixing a flaw in your vault, and still you can’t do it. You make the same mistakes. You lose again and again. You watch a person overtake you and it’s like your dream slipping away. You pout, swear, give up, cry. Then you try again. It’s who you are.

You’ve met a psychologist and a yogi. You’ve swallowed a capsule with a thermometer inside it to record your core body temperature. You’ve put on 14kg like sailor Griselda Khng because your event demands it. You do whatever it takes. For fear that somebody else will.

You’ve spent 1,400 days taking it step by step. You’ve stepped over your peers, into stadiums and onto podiums. You’ve stepped on a train after work like shooter Teo Shun Xie and gone to training. You’ve stepped in front of a mirror and seen yourself and 1,400 days later you look like someone else. More experienced, tougher, muscular. It’s not enough. It’s never enough.

You might be going to the Games for the last time like Michael Phelps or the first time like marathoner Neo Jie Shi. You’re both ready for the Zika virus, which makes you braver than some wusses we know of with steel-shafted clubs. You’ve got your ticket, your mosquito repellent and hopefully your nerve.

You’re just a few days away from the whistle and the bell and the command to start in Rio. You’re just a few weeks from long sleeps and hamburgers. After 1,400 days, the alarm is about to go silent.

And then you might miss it.

This article was first published on July 24, 2016.
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Despite only going up against university-level teams, the first week of the Lions’ Japan training camp proved an invaluable opportunity for national caretaker coach V. Sundramoorthy to shuffle his squad around and give them some much-needed experience.

In their two training matches against Niigata University of Health and Welfare (2-3) and Japan Football College (2-0) on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, 23 out of the 25-man Singapore squad were given playing time.

Sundram said: “This week has been useful for us to try out various formations and combinations and see how they work against strong opponents.

“We have seen many options – for example in the central defence positions – and that is a happy problem.

“It has also allowed the players to gain match time, especially for those who have not played together as an unit for the national team.

“I’m happy to see my players working hard – both in training and during the games.”

Singapore will take on Albirex Niigata at the Denka Big Swan Stadium today and Sundram is relishing the challenge.

The 50-year-old said: “This is an opportunity for the players to express themselves and show their abilities playing against a (J-League) team.”

“I hope that after the game, I will have a strong indication of the pool of players that I have and I am sure I will have a selection headache for the upcoming national team preparations. The team is motivated to do their best and put up a good fight against Albirex.”

Singapore and Garena Young Lions forward Khairul Amri also feels the team’s time in Japan will be helpful, especially with the year-end ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup looming, for which Sundram had set a semi-final target.

“Our time in Japan has been very fruitful and the boys have settled in well together. The training matches were tough tests that will be beneficial for the team and the Albirex match will be a big challenge but we are looking forward,” said the 31-year- old.

Amri also said the Lions – missing five key seniors based with overseas clubs in Hassan Sunny, Safuwan Baharudin, Hariss Harun, Shahril Ishak and Baihakki Khaizan – are still a work in progress but will rise to the occasion when it most matters.

He said: “Right now, our team have gelled together well but there is still room for improvement. It is important that we work our way up slowly and peak at the right time – that will be at the AFF Suzuki Cup.”

This article was first published on July 24, 2016.
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When asked about her goal for the 8th ASEAN Schools Games (ASG), 15-year-old gymnast Tan Sze En exchanged a hesitant glance with team-mate Nadine Joy Nathan yesterday, suggesting: “Should I say it?”

Sixteen-year-old Nadine nodded, and Sze En replied, after taking a deep breath: “I want to win the individual all-around gold medal and retain our team gold.”

About 30 minutes later, Sze En’s dreams were achieved as the results of the women’s artistic gymnastics competition were finalised, delivering Singapore’s first two gold medals at the ASG.

The Singapore team comprising Sze En, Nadine, Mei Togawa, Kiera Lau and Colette Chan topped the team event with a final score of 189.65.

Sze En, Nadine and Colette also finished in the top three at the individual event, but the Republic was denied a clean sweep as only two representatives from each country could stand on the podium. Sze En (gold) and Nadine (silver) were given medals.

Speaking to The Sunday Times at Rajamangala University of Technology in Chiang Mai, where the gymnastics competition was held, Sze En said: “I finished second during my first ASG in 2013 and didn’t get a medal at my second ASG the next year, because the top two were from Singapore.

“I feel so happy that my hard work paid off.”

The Raffles Girls’ School student is also relieved that her side recovered well from a shaky routine on the uneven bars. “We were all quite nervous for the bars, especially because we’d only trained for a day before the competition,” she said. “But I’m glad we managed to focus on what we were supposed to do after that.”

Fellow RGS schoolmate Kiera admitted to feeling nervous before the competition, but buoyed by her team’s victory, the 14-year-old is determined to perform better at the apparatus finals today.

“My aim was to get more experience as this is my first major tournament, but I could’ve done better for the individual event,” said Kiera, an ASG debutant.

“We did well for the team event today, so hopefully I will be more confident in my performance tomorrow.”

Clinching the team silver and bronze respectively were Vietnam, who scored 176.8, and Thailand (171.4).

Thailand’s Thidaporn Khanthara scored 45.95 to finish third in the individual event, behind Nadine (47.25) and Sze En (50.45).

Singapore’s swimmers delivered three bronzes and one silver at the swimming event at Chiang Mai’s 700th Anniversary Sports Complex. Team manager Mark Ng was pleased with his charges’ performance.

“For swimming it always comes down to the finals because in the heats you may have done better, but in the finals everyone really wants the medals and the wins are always very close,” said the 44-year-old.

“But medals are secondary. The two most important things to me are that they should qualify for the finals, and post new personal best times.”

This article was first published on July 24, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.