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Marathoner Ashley Liew breaks silence, sends legal letter to teammate Soh who questioned fair play award

SINGAPORE — The dispute between national marathoner Soh Rui Yong and teammate Ashley Liew deepened on Tuesday (April 9), with the latter demanding through his lawyers that Soh publicly apologise and remove all social media posts disputing his act of sportsmanship at the 2015 SEA Games.

Soh Rui Yong (left) and Ashley Liew (right) in a picture taken in 2015 before the SEA Games.

Soh Rui Yong (left) and Ashley Liew (right) in a picture taken in 2015 before the SEA Games.

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SINGAPORE — The dispute between national marathoner Soh Rui Yong and teammate Ashley Liew deepened on Tuesday (April 9), with the latter demanding through his lawyers that Soh publicly apologise and remove all social media posts disputing his act of sportsmanship at the 2015 SEA Games.

This was the second legal letter served on Soh — who is refusing to back down — over the matter, a week after Rajah and Tann lawyers, acting on behalf of the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), demanded that Soh publicly retracts his allegations and admit that his claims were wrong.

Nevertheless, SNOC on Tuesday said it was leaving it to Mr Liew to pursue the matter while Singapore Athletics, the national sports association, offered to play peacemaker. The association said it is mediating between the parties to find a “mutually acceptable”, and “amicable” outcome.

For now, Soh, 27, is sticking to his guns. When contacted, he told TODAY: “Unfortunately I won't be complying as what I saw genuinely does not corroborate with Ashley's version of events. I'm happy to meet and mediate with all parties involved if and when necessary. I am just stating what I saw which has been and will continue to be backed up by witnesses — I don't see why it is necessary to send a legal letter to me for speaking about what I saw."

Liew’s lawyer, Mr Mark Teng from That.Legal LLC, said in the latest letter that Soh’s statements about his client had “hurt and disparaged” his professional image as a doctor of chiropractic, and his reputation as a competitive marathon runner. These had also caused Liew “financial and reputational loss and damage”.

The letter stated that Soh was to agree to Liew’s demands by April 16 or face possible legal action.

On Monday, Soh’s lawyers from Eugene Thuraisingam LLP replied to SNOC’s legal team, stating that the former would not comply with the demands.

The SNOC said on Tuesday it “has done all that is necessary to bring the truth of what happened during the race to light” and would “leave it to Mr Liew to take up the matter further with Mr Soh to vindicate Mr Liew’s reputation”.

However, it issued a scathing rebuke to two-time SEA Games gold medallist Soh: “Mr Soh’s continued refusal to acknowledge that he was wrong in his allegations and his rejection of the opportunity to retract and withdraw his false allegations, reflects poorly on him as an individual and as an athlete who is supposed to serve as an example to the sporting youth of his country.”

For the first time since the allegations surfaced last year, Liew also commented publicly on the incident on Tuesday in a statement posted on the website of his management team, ONEathlete Team.

“From a personal standpoint, I have not responded publicly to something like this because it is not my nature to fan any controversy. To me, staying silent on the matter was an exercise in de-escalation, not an admission of guilt,” said Liew, 32.

“However, with the insinuations continuing, I cannot remain silent anymore. I believe it is time to speak up and clear the air.”

ONEathlete also said it has been “a challenging period” for Liew and that the decision to pursue his legal options was “a tough one”.

WHAT HAPPENED

In October last year, Soh had in a Facebook post disputed Liew’s account of events during the SEA Games men’s marathon final in 2015.

Liew said then that he had slowed down to almost a crawl to allow his rivals to catch up after they missed a U-turn and took the wrong path. His act of sportsmanship was widely publicised and earned him praise from many Singaporeans and he was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin accolade — which SNOC nominated him for — in 2016.

But Soh, who won the race, later alleged that Liew’s account was “untrue”.

His claims were later backed up by Filipino runner Rafael Poliquit — one of the 12 runners competing in that race — and two witnesses who had previously coached him.

SNOC said that following Soh’s claims, its lawyers had interviewed eye witnesses, with four of them providing statutory declarations. This was to ensure that Soh’s allegations were “fully investigated and the truth be determined”, said the council.

“Each of them positively affirmed that they saw Mr Liew slowing down to allow some of the runners who had fallen behind him due to taking the wrong route to catch up. One of these eye witnesses was himself a participant in that same race,” said SNOC.

The SNOC said that it had on April 1 offered Soh the opportunity to view the declarations but that was not taken up.

Related topics

Soh Rui Yong Ashley Liew sportsmanship Pierre de Coubertin Sports

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