Chris Chan
Chris Chan | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Chan in 2013 | |
| Born | 18 September 1950 |
| Organizations | |
| Awards | Olympic Diploma of Merit (2016) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Singapore |
| Branch | Singapore Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
Christopher Chan (born 18 September 1950) is a Singaporean executive who has served as the first president of the Global Esports Federation since 2019. He also served as the secretary-general of the Singapore National Olympic Committee (SNOC) from 2002 to 2025.
Biography
[edit]Christopher Chan was born on 18 September 1950.[1] He graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1973 and spent 28 years in the Singapore Armed Forces, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.[2] He was a commando officer of the Singapore Army.[3]
He was a chief executive of the Singapore Premier League[4] from 1997 to 2002. He left the league[5] to begin serving as the secretary-general of the Singapore National Olympic Committee.[6] Amid the controversy stemming from death sentence of Van Tuong Nguyen, Chan declined to comment after his country's participation of the 2006 Commonwealth Games was protested, preferring not to mix sport and politics.[7] He repeated this latter sentiment in 2008, comparing the two topics to oil and water.[8]
During his tenure, Singapore hosted the first Youth Olympic Games in 2010.[3][9] Despite a favorable outcome at that year's Commonwealth Games, Singapore had an underwhelming performance at that year's Asian Games, with Chan reacting in confusion at the upset.[10]
By 2012, the BBC noted that Singapore had not won any gold medals at the Olympics despite attending since 1948. It described Chan as attributing this issue to "the lack of a systemic and holistic approach toward identifying sporting talent" in the country.[9] Singapore finally earned its first Olympic gold medal with Joseph Schooling's performance at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[3] That same year, Chan was awarded the Olympic Diploma of Merit with two others for "significant contributions to the Olympic movement and sport in Singapore and internationally."[6]
In 2019, he was elected as the founding president of the Global Esports Federation (GEF),[11][12][13] and unanimously re-elected in 2024.[14] Under Chan's presidency, the GEF "acquir[ed] an impressive number of members and partners," including the publishers Capcom, Konami, and Sega.[15] Kenyan esports executive Ronny Lusigi endorsed Chan's 2024 reelection bid in an opinion piece in the Daily Nation.[16] Former swimmer Mark Chay succeeded him as secretary-general of the SNOC in 2025.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Chris Chan". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- ^ "Alternative Dispute Resolution Framework for Sports formed to resolve disputes" (PDF). Sport Singapore. 7 January 2008. Annex A - Profiles of ADR Sports Partners. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d Lee, David (18 February 2025). "Former swimmer Mark Chay set to become new Singapore National Olympic Council secretary-general". The Straits Times.
- ^ Horton 2013, p. 1163.
- ^ Tan, Martino (4 January 2017). "S.League CEO Lim Chin quits, now's the time for a football man to lead this most difficult job". Mothership.
- ^ a b Tan, Noah (9 March 2016). "Three S'poreans honoured for their contribution to the Olympic movement". Today.
- ^ Ker, Peter (23 November 2005). "Council Games host rejects protest". The Age.
- ^ Aplin 2015, p. 237.
- ^ a b Lim, Rebecca (26 July 2012). "Singapore's Olympic gold chase a hurdles race". BBC News.
- ^ Horton 2013, p. 1159.
- ^ Zhouxiang, Lu (2022-05-12). A History of Competitive Gaming. Routledge. p. 212. ISBN 978-1-000-58853-8.
- ^ Aziz, Sazali Abdul (16 December 2019). "SNOC's Chris Chan to head global e-sports body". The New Paper.
- ^ "Global Esports Federation launched in Singapore with Tencent as founding global partner". Xinhua News Agency. 17 December 2024.
- ^ Wong, Jonathan (11 November 2024). "Singaporean Chris Chan to head Global Esports Federation for another four years". The Straits Times.
- ^ Nicholson, Jonno (31 January 2025). "Capcom, Konami, and Sega join Global Esports Federation". Esports Insider.
- ^ Lusigi, Ronny (12 December 2023). "Why Chris Chan deserves another term as GEF President". Daily Nation.
Bibliography
[edit]- Aplin, Nick (2015). "Hosting the Youth Olympic Games: The Pioneers from Singapore". In Leng, Ho Keat; Hsu, Noah Yang (eds.). Emerging Trends and Innovation in Sports Marketing and Management in Asia:. Advances in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and E-Services. IGI Global. pp. 219–240. doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-7527-8.ch013. ISBN 978-1-4666-7527-8.
- Horton, Peter (May 2013). "Guangzhou 2010: Singapore at a Global Crossroads". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 30 (10): 1153–1164. doi:10.1080/09523367.2013.778248. ISSN 0952-3367.