The source of the problem can be traced to the sorry state of the domestic league administered by the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA). Since the league was reformatted as the Intercity League last year, it has drawn most of its players from the nation’s sports universities with only a handful of poorly paid semi-professional players. Attendance is low and the playing standards even lower. Despite the recent wave of soccer fever, the fact remains that Taiwan does not have enough public interest (and therefore commercial backing) or playing talent to support a domestic league capable of producing players of international caliber.
Now is the time to give serious consideration to the idea of entering a Taiwanese team in the Chinese Super League. While the Super League is plagued with problems of its own, not least rampant corruption and match-fixing scandals, in terms of soccer ability it is still light years ahead of anything we have in Taiwan. Most, if not all, the players are professional with a number of journeyman players from overseas adding to the talent pool. Attendance averages over 13,000, way beyond CTFA’s stated (and highly improbable) goal of 3,000 per game for Intercity League fixtures.
If Taiwan were to enter a team, it is likely that the majority of the players would also represent the Chinese Taipei national team. This is doubly advantageous as the players would benefit from playing together regularly and resources from the club and national teams, such as training facilities and coaching staff, could be pooled.
Most importantly, the establishment of a professional Taiwanese soccer club will give hope to the thousands of young soccer players that there is a chance of making a living from the game. As things stand, it’s understandable that promising players drop out of the game when the rewards for persisting are so paltry.
The inevitable political questions will be raised, but there is a precedent for soccer teams from one national federation playing in the domestic league of another territory. In the UK, Welsh teams compete in the English league without forfeiting the right of Wales to play as an international team. The Football Association of Wales runs its own Welsh Football League, and I would envisage CTFA continuing to run a domestic Taiwan league. The Toronto Raptors have competed in the NBA without damaging the status of the Canadian national basketball team.
The time has come to look afresh at the way soccer is run in Taiwan, and we must discount no option, no matter how unpalatable it may first appear.
JOHN PHILLIPS
Taipei
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