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The Foreign Sports Talent Scheme (FST) is a scheme used by sports officials and organisations in Singapore to scout and facilitate the migration of non-Singaporeans deemed to possess sports talent to play in Singapore colours in sporting events. Introduced in 1993 by the Singapore Table Tennis Association,〔.〕 it also aimed to boost local sporting standards by importing sporting expertise. In March 2008, it was announced in the Parliament of Singapore that 54 athletes had benefited from the programme and received Singapore citizenship, of which 37 were still in active training. As of November 2009, 4.6 per cent, or 39 athletes, of the total number of national athletes in Singapore are foreigners who are brought in through the scheme. The majority of the foreign sports talent are 19 for badminton and 11 for table tennis.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=4.6% of national athletes are foreigners )〕 ==Debate== The achievement of Singapore's women's table tennis team in winning a silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the country's first Olympic medal since 1960, reignited debate over the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme. Some critics said that the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) has relied too much on it, as the team comprised three China-born players, Feng Tianwei, Li Jiawei and Wang Yuegu.〔.〕 A day earlier, STTA president Lee Bee Wah had said: "It doesn't mean that we should look at them (table tennis players ) differently because they're not born and brought up in Singapore. The important thing is that they have embraced Singapore and want to be a part of it. And they wanted so badly to win a medal for our country. We should not be harping on where they are born. I hope mindsets change."〔 . See also .〕 In addition, during his Mandarin National Day Rally speech on 17 August, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said: In a 2009 Parliament session, Nominated Member of Parliament Joscelin Yeo questioned if a minimum ratio of local athletes versus athletes who graduate under the FST Scheme is needed, to ensure Singapore-born hopefuls have the opportunity to realise their full potential. In a written response, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Vivian Balakrishnan said that Singapore will continue to embrace talented foreign athletes who want to represent the country, as long as they raise the standard of sports in Singapore. Balakrishnan also laid down the three principles that guide the FST policy: openness to global talent, fairness in treatment of FSTs and local-born athletes, and ensuring the integration of the foreign-born athletes into society. FST application is processed by MCYS and the Singapore Sports Council, with the Ministry of Home Affairs final approval for each athlete to gain Permanent Residency and subsequent Singapore citizenship. Balakrishnan maintained that there was no need to set a ratio on the number of FSTs in each sport as the Singapore Youth Sports Development Committee is working to grow the pool of young local athletes by spotting young talent early and nurturing them, and giving them greater exposure to competition. Balakrishnan revealed that FSTs currently make up 4.6 per cent of the total number of athletes among the development and national squads of the seven key sports in the country. Badminton and table tennis have the most number of FSTs in their teams with 19 FSTs out of 97 badminton players, and 11 FSTs out of 85 table tennis players.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Foreign athletes welcomed if they raise standard of Singapore sports )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Foreign Sports Talent Scheme」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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