On July 27th, an announcement was made by Leonard Yip recruiting athletes interested in joining the Asian Cup in Mumbai, India, which is set to take place from 19–26 October 2024.
In his announcement, it was revealed that there would be a new, World Armwrestling Federation (WAF)-affiliated organization, being created, called "Arm Sport (Singapore)".
With a lot of the local arm wrestling community not fully grasping what this entails, Eastside Arm Wrestling took some time to talk to Leonard to find out more about this new development in the local arm wrestling scene.
Background
The currently-existing Singapore Armwrestling (SGAW) has been the only arm wrestling society in Singapore for the past decade. SGAW has been organizing the local Singapore Armwrestling National Championships since 2021, as well as sending athletes to international events such as AFA Asian Championships (2022) and IFA World Championships (2023). SGAW is an association that is affiliated with the International Federation of Armwrestling (IFA), an organization formed in 2019 after several member nations of WAF split off due to political disagreements. IFA and WAF both represent the two largest international arm wrestling organizations currently. As of the writing of this article, WAF is the only arm wrestling organization recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), having been featured on the IOC's website on several occasions in the past. Why create a new federation?
When we asked Leonard about the decision to start a new, WAF-affiliated association, it seemed like the main driver behind this effort was the growth and recognition of Arm Wrestling as an official sport in Singapore.
This matters to Singapore because of potential grants coming from SportSG, the government, and arm wrestling being recognised as a National Sport Association (NSA) in Singapore. — Leonard Yip
As it turns out, getting a sport officially recognised in Singapore carries with it a lot of caveats as Leonard further explained:
[...] SportSG is concerned about our athletes doing well and affiliation to IOC.
As such, since WAF is the only arm wrestling organization recognised by IOC, Arm Sport (Singapore) was created to work towards the goal of being an NSA and being affiliated with WAF.
What does this mean for Singaporean arm wrestlers who wish to join Arm Sport (Singapore)?
Much of the community has rightly been concerned about what the possible implications are for joining Arm Sport (Singapore). The following is a list of some of the major things to consider should one think of joining Arm Sport (Singapore):
After becoming a WAF-affiliated athlete, you might be subjected to dope-testing at WAF-sanctioned events.
After becoming a WAF-affiliated athlete, if you compete at any events sanctioned by the International Federation of Armwrestling (IFA), Professional Armwrestling League (PAL), Unified Rating of Professional Armwrestling (URPA), or World Armfight Championship (WAC), you will be permanently banned from WAF.
After becoming a WAF-affiliated athlete, you will be free to compete in other events that are not sanctioned by any of the associations outlined in Point 2, including WAF World Championships, East vs West, etc.
Arm wrestlers in Singapore who wish to join Arm Sport (Singapore) may register at this link.
Eastside Arm Wrestling would like to thank Leonard Yip for his time in answering our queries.
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