The Singapore Athletics Association (SAA), the national body responsible for grooming Singapore’s track and field athletes for international competition, is apparently in danger of getting no funds from the Singapore Sports Council after handing in their training and development plans two months late, according to a report in the Straits Times (Running on Empty; Wednesday, January 7, 2009).

The SAA received between $1-2 million in the last funding year.

The SSC funds the NSAs based on three criteria: high performance (international events), high participation (mass events) and talent identification (youth).

The ST story says the association’s chief executive officer Christina Tay was unaware of the latest development while other officials said the NSA was too busy with the preparations for the Singapore Marathon.

Their tardiness has gotten themselves front page coverage in the sports section of ST, an achievement its own Singapore Open Track and Field Championship doesn’t even attain. In fact, the 2008 Singapore Open didn’t even get any coverage in ST apart from a story about then Beijing-bound sprinter Calvin Kang.