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Singapore Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong has revealed a S$20 million (US$14.75 million) plan to reinvigorate the nation’s physical activity, bring people back to sport and reconnect with one another.

With an easing of pandemic lockdown restrictions for fully vaccinated persons allowing venues with capacities of under 1,000 able to operate at 100% capacity from today and team sports for up to 30 people allowed at Sport Singapore (SportSG)’s ActiveSG or People’s Association facilities as of Tuesday this week (15^th March), the Bring Sport Back plan aims to ramp up community participation in sport and physical activity through “enhanced programming” and more group activities.

It also aims to safely reintroduce mass participation events for all through more community events and sports festivals.

Backed by grants of up to S$50,000 (US$30,000) per event, they will target physical participation of 1,000 to 3,000 people each, subjected to prevailing safe measurement measures and will be augmented with virtual participation.

Minister Tong stated “we are working on resuming larger team sports capacities across more facilities around Singapore, bringing back to full capacity in several phases.

“We will roll out more leagues and competitions for people of all ages under the ActiveSG umbrella. These include the ActiveSG Cup launch, and ActiveSG Leagues for athletics, badminton and canoeing.”

These new ActiveSG Cup and leagues will provide playing opportunities for about 22,000 participants  while ActiveSG academies and clubs will also increase the capacity of “high-quality programs.

Advising that the new plan will also aim to optimise facilities and spaces in order to encourage people to return and play together, Minister Tong added “these spaces will be community-driven, serving the unique needs of our different neighbourhoods. These include repurposing spaces for a range of sports, and converting underused spaces into outdoor gyms

“We hope that these measures will encourage Singaporeans to resume sporting and wellness activities safely.”

Under guidelines announced this week by SportSG and the National Arts Council Singapore, in addition to new limits for venues with capacities of under 1,000, venues with capacities larger than 1000 can operate at 50% capacity.

Among spectator sports, the Singapore Premier League (SPL) will see teams operate in line with this, with limits for each of the five SPL match venues for this season ranging from 3,000 for Jalan Besar Stadium to 1,500 each for Toa Payoh Stadium, Hougang Stadium and Jurong East Stadium.

Spectators in all venues must be masked and COVID status certification checks must be conducted for all live performances, irrespective of event size.

The venue changes are in line with the Singapore Government directive of simplification of safe management measures that went into effect on 15^th March.

Mask-wearing will continue to be required "as a default," according to the task force, but there will be slight easing on physical distancing policies based on the new guidelines.

Click here to view the latest Singapore Government directive.

Image courtesy of SportSG.

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