Foreign Sports Talent Scheme

The Foreign Sports Talent Scheme (FST), initially known as Project Rainbow,[1][2] 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[3] by the Singapore Table Tennis Association,[4] 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.[5]

  1. ^ Leng, Ho Keat (2015). Emerging trends and innovation in sports marketing and management in Asia. Hershey, PA. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-4666-7528-5. OCLC 904281091.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Migration and diversity in Asian contexts. Ah Eng Lai, Francis L. Collins, Brenda S. A. Yeoh. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. 2013. ISBN 978-981-4380-46-1. OCLC 829459999.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ^ Leonard Lim (9 March 2008), "Is the foreign talent scheme working?", The Straits Times, archived from the original on 14 September 2008
  4. ^ Peh Shing Huei (19 August 2008), "The man behind the medal", The Sunday Times, archived from the original on 22 August 2008.
  5. ^ "4.6% of national athletes are foreigners". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.