SINGAPORE — The legal spat between national marathoners Soh Rui Yong and Ashley Liew has taken another twist, with Mr Soh demanding S$1 million in compensation for allegedly defamatory statements published on the website of Mr Liew’s management.

Lawyers acting for Mr Soh issued a letter of demand seeking the compensation and other concessions to One Management — the parent company of the management firm representing Mr Liew — and its co-founder Jed Senthil K Jivaraju.

In the letter, dated Tuesday (Oct 15), seen by TODAY, Mr Soh’s lawyers Foxwood LLC said the compensation was for the injury that Mr Soh had allegedly suffered to his “professional standing and reputation” over three statements that were published by the firm.

The letter states that if the $1 million — S$500,000 each from One Management and Mr Jed — is not paid, along with the other concessions, Mr Soh would issue libel proceedings against them both.

One Management, which is co-founded by Mr Jed and former marathon champion Mok Ying Ren, is the parent company of RunOne and ONEathlete, which manages Mr Liew.

The public dispute between Mr Soh and Mr Liew began in October last year over a contested act of sportsmanship by Mr Liew during the SEA Games men’s marathon final in 2015.

Mr Soh took to Facebook in October last year to dispute Mr Liew’s account of what happened during the final, in which the latter said he had slowed down to allow other runners in the event to catch up after they missed a U-turn and took the wrong path.

The incident led to Mr Liew winning the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy — a global prize for good sportsmanship.

THREE STATEMENTS IN QUESTION

In the latest legal development, Mr Soh has taken issue with three statements published by the firm on OneRun’s website — on Oct 21 last year, and on April 2 and 9 this year.

Following Mr Soh’s comments on his Facebook page in October last year, RunOne allegedly stated on Oct 21 that it stood by its athlete and the decision by the Singapore National Olympic Council and the International Committee for Fair Play to "nominate and confer" the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy on Mr Liew.

The company had added then that Mr Soh “is entitled to his opinions”.

RunOne then published two more statements on April 2 and April 9 this year in response to allegations brought up by Mr Soh. The firm said that it had previously decided not to respond further to Mr Soh’s “incessant aspersions in kind because we do not stand for, nor identify with, such regrettable behaviour from a fellow athlete”.

It added: “Soh’s allegations had unfairly cast doubt over ONEathlete, Ashley Liew’s repute as an individual, working professional and national athlete”.

In the media statement on April 9, RunOne provided a “summary of events” and sought to refute Mr Soh’s claim against Mr Liew.

In the latest legal letter, Mr Soh also demanded that One Management sign a written undertaking not to publish any further statements that may be defamatory to him and for an apology to be published in The Straits Times.

OTHER LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

Mr Soh is currently embroiled in three other legal proceedings with Mr Liew, the Singapore Athletics (SA) and the SA executive director Syed Abdul Malik Aljunied.

• On June 18, Mr Liew sued Mr Soh for defamation and sought court orders to get Mr Soh to retract comments which implied that Mr Liew was a liar and did not deserve the Pierre de Coubertin World Fair Play Trophy and the recognition which he received. Earlier this month, Mr Soh said he would be issuing a counterclaim against Mr Liew, alleging defamation.

• In August, Mr Soh said that his lawyers had filed a writ against SA executive director Syed Abdul Malik Aljunied for allegedly defamatory comments that Mr Malik posted on his Facebook page on August 17.

• Last month, Mr Soh’s lawyers issued a defamation writ and statement of claim to the SA. The tiff arose in August over Mr Soh being rejected from Team Singapore for the SEA Games in the Philippines, and defamatory comments allegedly made by SA in the wake of the decision.