SINGAPORE — It is official: The presidency of the Singapore Rugby Union (SRU) will be a contest between former national captain Terence Khoo and SRU honorary secretary Cheo Chai Hong at the SRU elections on June 20, after the national sports body cleared both individuals’ nominations.

This effectively ends the 11-year tenure of current president Low Teo Ping, who took over the position from Mr Chan Peng Mun in 2006.

Mr Khoo, who runs sports marketing company Enterprise Sports Group, told TODAY last week that he had decided to run for office as he felt the time was ripe for him to give back to the sport.

However, Mr Cheo, who assumed his current role in the SRU in 2006 as well, said he wants to lead the SRU because he still has “unfinished business” in the sport.

Following his retirement as a managing director at United Overseas Bank, the 64-year-old, who said he was encouraged by Mr Low to run for the top post, believes he can now dedicate himself fully to running the SRU and ensuring that the plans put in place are completed.

“It’s right for me to step up now since I can afford to devote more time for the SRU,” Mr Cheo, who is overseas and will return to Singapore on the day of the elections, told TODAY.

“Having been in the SRU for 11 years, I know the amount of dedication it takes to run it. I have unfinished business. There are still things (in rugby) that need to be done to grow the sport. I’m loath to see these things not being carried out to fruition.”

His chief concern, he said, is to ensure that the SRU continues to maintain proper corporate governance.

Said Mr Cheo, who joined the SRU after one of its employees, Sean Lee, siphoned S$1.2 million from its coffers in 2005 and absconded: “You need not just honest people, but the right processes and procedures in place.

“When I first joined the SRU, we (the management committee) were determined to ensure that there would not be a repeat of what happened previously with Sean.”

Mr Cheo, who is married but does not have any children, also outlined his plans to grow rugby here. In particular, he plans to further develop the seven-a-side (7s) game in Singapore.

“Would (focusing more on) 7s be the way to go? In some ways, yes,” said Mr Cheo. “The SEA Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympics all feature rugby 7s. But if you want a truly successful 7s team, then you have to specialise.

“But first, we need to increase the pool of players so that, over time, we can have a squad for the 7s, and a much larger squad for the 15s. If we can do that, then our progress will be faster.”

Mr Cheo also wants to improve the standard of coaching here by either sending coaches overseas or bringing top-class trainers to Singapore.

He also aims to grow the pool of players in Singapore by increasing the number of rugby clubs here, and by sending coaches to tertiary institutions to form rugby teams.

Ensuring the SRU achieves financial independence is another priority.

If elected, Mr Cheo said, he will ask Mr Low to continue running Rugby Singapore (RS), the commercial arm of the SRU, as its chairman so that he can fully focus on discharging his duties as SRU president.

RS is responsible for bringing in top-class rugby events such as the HSBC Rugby 7s and the recent international test between Italy and Scotland. In January, TODAY reported that RS received a S$1 million investment from ScoreXV, a French-based sports marketing firm led by Frenchman Claude Atcher, who is also the chief operating officer of RS.

Added Mr Cheo: “It’s important to continue having Low running RS … he has built up such a strong network and has so many connections that it’ll be a waste if we don’t use that to our advantage.”

Mr Cheo, who has already sent out an email to the eight voting affiliates of the SRU detailing his plans and manifesto, said he is happy to see Mr Khoo contesting the elections.

“For some time now, there’s been a dearth of quality people … it’s not as if at every election there are people lining up to hold office,” he said.

“With new talent like Terence comes new ideas, and I think we should encourage that, so it’s wonderful that a rugby-pedigree person like him has stepped forward.

“After all, all we want is to improve rugby in Singapore.”

The upcoming SRU elections will see five positions being contested. The presidency aside, SRU vice-president Jonathan Leow will be challenged by Bucks Rugby Football Club president Martin Williams.

The posts of honorary treasurer, assistant honorary secretary, and one of three committee member positions are also up for grabs.