Officials and coaches yesterday met at the legislature in Taipei to push for a national plan to develop soccer, with the goal of Taiwan making it into the quadrennial FIFA World Cup finals in the future.
Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) secretary-general Chiu Yi-wen (邱奕文) attended the public hearing and said it would require strong commitment by the government and a “big engineering project” for Taiwan to be competitive in international soccer.
“However, in the past all we got were slogans, grandiose concepts and empty promises,” Chiu said.
The hearing was organized by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智), who represents the Datong (大同) and Shilin (士林) districts in Taipei.
Yao said he wants to see Taiwan improve its FIFA world ranking of 178 out of 207 nations and that Taiwan could learn from near neighbor Japan, or Costa Rica, which is a small country, but its national team had a successful run in the World Cup finals in Brazil.
“Japan has a national plan, with a pledge to win the World Cup in 2050. We should get details of their plan and take a look at the proposed actions and programs. We could then set these up and achieve the same success as Japan,” Yao said.
Chao Yung-jui (趙榮瑞), a sports management professor and a veteran soccer coach, criticized the officials attending the hearing.
“Our government had the wrong approach and wrong policy on soccer all along,” Chao said.
“There was no vision or long-term planning. Just look at Zhongshan Soccer Stadium: It was Taiwan’s only FIFA-approved ground for international games. The Taipei City Government ‘borrowed’ it for the 2010 Flora Expo and they never gave it back. Now the city plans to build a youth hostel complex and a creative culture park there. We must ask the city government to give the stadium back to the soccer community,” Chao added.
Kao Yung (高庸), and elder statesman of Taiwanese soccer and a Women’s Asian Cup-winning coach, said we can learn from the success of Germany, where they have widespread public participation, with support from industries and local governments from the grassroots and amateur levels all the way to the professional leagues.
“Soccer is the most suitable game for Asians, with no need for a big body size and height. Lionel Messi is only at 169cm, so almost anyone can play the game. It is also very economical, because soccer can be played in many places, in small indoor rooms or on the street,” Kao said.
Broadcaster Max Shih (石明謹) said things must change.
“Many people are dedicated to the game, in their roles as coaches, players, public officials, sports journalists, academics and business sponsors. All have their resources, but they are working on their own. We must overcome the differences, collaborate and integrate to produse a national soccer infrastructure, to work toward the same goals,” Shih said.
Most attendees agreed that the government should convene a “National Conference for Soccer Development” in the near future and implement a long-term program to enhance the nation’s competitiveness.
They also called for more sponsorship from large conglomerates to help establish a professional league in Taiwan.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by