Sports Administration officials yesterday promised to investigate an alleged breach of contract by Gary White, the English head coach of the national men’s soccer team, after Chinese media reports on Thursday showed White among the coaching staff in group photographs with Chinese under-19 soccer players.
Sina.com and other Chinese Web sites said that the photographs accompanied an official news release by China’s national soccer governing body, which said that White is coaching China’s under-19 squad in this week’s Panda Cup in Chengdu in China’s Sichuan Province
The hosts are to face England, Hungary and Uruguay in the competition that started on Wednesday and ends on Sunday.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) and Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) at a news conference in Taipei yesterday demanded that the administration and Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) investigate the situation.
Liu said she has received complaints from soccer officials and fans, who said that White, who was hired in September last year, is in breach of his contract.
“Fans and officials told us that they question White’s commitment to our national team, as they should be training for the Hero Intercontinental Cup in India, where Taiwan is to face the hosts for the opener on Friday next week,” Liu said. “They also asked: ‘How can White work for Taiwan and China at the same time?’”
National sports laws and CTFA regulations on contracts for national coaches prohibit them from taking on part-time jobs elsewhere, but do not specify punishments, Liu said.
Some fans speculated that China might have recruited White to obtain inside information about Taiwan’s soccer programs and preparation for international competitions.
“Information from the administration, which financially supports the team, shows that we are paying White a very good monthly salary of NT$480,000, which is commensurate with his experience and past achievements,” Liu said. “This wage is far higher than that of [former head coach] Chen Kuei-jen (陳貴人).”
The CTFA said in a statement that White is not serving as an “assistant coach” to the Chinese under-19 team, but is taking part in the Panda Cup to interact with other teams and coaches, and to pick up ideas that could benefit the Taiwanese team.
“White has since January last year been working for Nike as a soccer technical director. He is taking part in the Panda Cup in that capacity, as a technical consultant for Nike,” the statement said.
“Before heading to China, White informed us of his planned work at the tournament,” the statement added.
White is also to scout and interact with the English under-19 squad, which has had excellent results over the past year, the CTFA said, adding that it could benefit the long-term development of Taiwan’s youth soccer programs.
White’s trip to China as a “consultant” under his contract with Nike would not breach his head coach contract, administration Competitive Athletics Division Director Huang Chih-chang (洪志昌) said.
Such activities are allowed as long as he is doing volunteer work for the Chinese team and does not take up a position as part-time assistant coach, Huang said.
However, after questions from DPP legislators, Huang promised that he would check with the CTFA and White.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard