FEATURE: Why can't Taiwan host a soccer tournament?

The statement added that the subsidy forthcoming from the Sports Affairs Council (SAC) was insufficient, given that the performance of the national soccer team is lackluster compared with that of the baseball team.

SAC Deputy Minister Lee Kao-hsiang (李高祥) told the Taipei Times that he was "surprised" to read about the Challenge Cup saga in the newspaper.

He said the CTFA statement was "irresponsible."

Lee said that it might not be possible for local governments to fund such renovation projects, as they operate under limited budgets.

While the central government might not have the budget to build two new soccer stadiums, it definitely had the money to renovate stadiums to bring them up to international standard, Lee said.

Lee said the SAC's annual budget is NT$5.8 billion (US$17.6 million). Fifty-seven percent of that money is spent on infrastructure, he said.

To assist the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association in hosting the Baseball World Cup and Baseball Asia Cup this year, Lee said the SAC allocated a budget of NT$800 million to renovate the Sinjhuang (新莊), Tianmu (天母) and Taichung Intercontinental baseball stadiums.

Lee said that in addition to Taoyuan Stadium, the stadiums in Banciao (板橋) and Sinjhuang were also viable soccer venues, provided issues such as drainage were addressed.

Meanwhile, the Taipei City Government plans to use the Zhongshan Stadium to host the Taipei International Gardening and Horticulture Exposition in 2010. As a result, the stadium will be closed next summer for renovation.

In the meantime, the city plans to use the Taipei Gymnasium, which opens in 2009, to host soccer games.