Government officials yesterday evening delivered a NT$3 million (US$97,400) check to taekwondo athlete Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) at her residence in Yingge (鶯歌), Taipei County. The money was donated by a private foundation.
Yang was controversially disqualified during a first-round bout in the women’s taekwondo under-49kg division on Wednesday last week because of allegations that she had extra sensors attached to her socks.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) earlier yesterday said the NT$3 million was donated by a private foundation that wished to remain anonymous.
The government is required by regulations to award NT$3 million to athletes if they win gold at international competitions and assist them in securing jobs during the five years after they win the medal. Shortly after Yang was disqualified, Wu said the government would treat her as a gold medalist, but later he said that the Sports Affairs Council would have to convene a meeting to decide whether the NT$3 million would be awarded to Yang as a cash award or in the form of a fund for future training.
Sports Affairs Council Deputy Minister Steven Chen (陳士魁) yesterday said the foundation had donated the money to bypass the strict rules and regulations that restrict giving cash awards to medalists.
However, Yang said it would be unfair to other athletes if she accepted the NT$3 million because she did not win the gold medal.
“I thanked Deputy Minister Chen and Premier Wu for being so thoughtful when considering the problems that I might have to deal with in the future, but I would feel weird if I simply took the money without doing anything,” Yang said.
Meanwhile, Taipei Municipal University of Education said it would offer Yang a job as an associate professor.
While saying it would be an honor, Yang has not decided whether she will take the job.
At a separate setting earlier yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said that the Taiwanese public would not accept any false accusations against its athletes and both the public and private sectors would work together to protect the rights of Taiwan’s athletes.
Noting that many people were supportive of Yang, Ma said he was particularly impressed by the remarks she made after she returned home on Monday.
“She asked the public to stop capitalizing on the matter, stop politicizing the controversy and stop being hostile to [South] Koreans because they had nothing to do with the dispute,” Ma said.
Ma, however, made a slip-up when he meant to say athletes, yundongyuan (運動員), but ended up saying dongwuyuan (動物園), or zoo, instead.
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