Politicians everywhere are known for riding on the back of other people’s success, but nowhere is this more obvious than in statements made by some officials after recent international successes by Taiwanese athletes.
Just days after tennis player Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳) made it to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon — the furthest any Taiwanese player has gone in a Grand Slam singles competition — the Taipei City Government announced that it would build a massive tennis center that meets international standards by 2014. With Taiwanese golfer Yani Tseng (曾雅妮), the hangers-on didn’t even wait that long. The day after she won her third major at the Women’s British Open earlier this month, Hsu Tien-ya (許典雅), the chairman of the Golf Association of Taiwan, said that the association had applied to host an LPGA championship tournament next year.
These statements make it seem that politicians and administrators have been generous in their support of sporting events, but this is far from true. Both Tseng and Lu have found it difficult to obtain funding to further their careers. Because of the lack of government support, Lu has had to scrounge for cheap plane tickets, accommodation and coaching since turning professional in 2000. In 2008, he was the only player to enter the men’s tennis tournament in the Beijing Olympics without a coach or a trainer, yet he posted one of the biggest wins of his career, beating Britain’s top-10 ranked Andy Murray in the first round.
This lack of support was also in evidence when Tseng’s father, Tseng Mao-hsin (曾茂炘), called on the government last year to fund an international golf tournament, which would cost about NT$200 million (US$6.2 million). President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) responded by saying that kind of money could be used to hold a dozen marathons — apparently the president’s favorite pastime — prompting Tseng’s father to say: “The government treats athletes like trash.”
Of course, the government has changed its tune now that Tseng has become the youngest golfer to win three majors, with the Sports Affairs Council saying: “[Tseng’s] story has made her a role model for all [Taiwanese] athletes.”
Athletes in individual sports at least stand a chance of making it on their own. However, for those in team events like soccer, there seems to be little hope. Taiwan, consistently near the bottom of FIFA’s international team rankings, has been unable to hold a significant international soccer event because, frankly, authorities have been too cheap. In 2007, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) revoked the nation’s right to host the AFC Challenge Cup because authorities could not guarantee that facilities would meet the governing body’s standards. The 16-nation tournament was to be staged at the Zhongshan Football Stadium in Taipei City and at the Taoyuan Stadium, which was not designed as a soccer stadium. When FIFA inspectors recommended revamping the lights, generators and scoreboards in Taipei, the city refused to comply because it had “difficulties meeting such high standards.” In Taoyuan, the local government told FIFA officials not to expect them to spend a dime on improving their stadium, but added that they were willing to rent it out.
However, none of this stopped some politicians from jumping on the World Cup fever bandwagon this summer, with many toting vuvuzelas and soccer balls as they showed up for press events. Ma still managed to put his hoof in his mouth as he reminisced about his high school soccer days by commenting that soccer was unsuitable for Asians because they are “physically inferior to the bigger and stronger Westerners.” It seems that nobody told Ma that three Asian countries — Japan, South Korea and North Korea — were playing in the World Cup this year.
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