Taiwanese tennis player Hsieh Su-wei’s (謝淑薇) row with sports officials has cast a spotlight on a top official on the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC), who owned and operated a family company with a virtual monopoly on flights and tour packages for athletes competing at Olympic Games and other major international tournaments for about three decades.
Hsieh, who has long had issues with alleged unfair treatment and funding problems, on Wednesday said she quit the national team and would never accept a call to play for the team again at a meeting with CTOC vice chairman Tsai Szu-chueh (蔡賜爵) in Rio de Janeiro.
Hsieh reportedly went to talk to Tsai about problems she had preparing for the Olympics and other issues she has with Taiwan’s sports program, “but he [Tsai] pounded the table and yelled at me instead,” Hsieh wrote on Facebook. “I do not want to be a national team player who has to go through all this unfair treatment again. It is with great pain that I make this announcement.”
The high-profile quarrel put media attention on Tsai, who is reportedly well-connected in political circles. His family’s ownership of Winner Express (運佳旅行社), a travel agency that was found to have monopolized flight ticketing and tour packages for Taiwanese national team athletes traveling abroad to compete in major sporting tournaments since at least the late 1980s, has also come under scrutiny.
Packages including airfares, tours and accommodation for a Taiwanese delegation to attend Olympic events reportedly costs about NT$60 million to NT$80 million (US$1.9 million to US$2.5 million).
While government regulations stipulate that the delegation contract is open for bidding by any qualified travel agency, Winner Express has secured the contract every year.
According to Winner Express’ Web site, it provides services to the nation’s sports and education sectors, and listed sports delegations to the 1988 Seoul Olympics, 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2012 London Olympics, as well as the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990, Hiroshima in 1994, Bangkok in 1998 and Busan in 2002, among its achievements.
The agency is also the sole authorized agency in Taiwan for spectators purchasing tickets for the Olympics and Asian Games, the Web site said.
The agency also provides ticketing and packages for government delegations on official business tours and meetings to foreign countries, according to the company’s Web site.
“In addition, our company has for many years provided airfares and tour package arrangements for Winter Olympics, World Games, Universiades, International Children’s Games and other single-sport events, along with travel and tour packages for school teams attending training, competitions or performing at events abroad,” the Web site said.
Political pundits and sports commentators have alleged that Tsai, as CTOC vice chairman, used inside information and his influence to make a profit.
They have also accused Tsai of collusion with other sports officials in the alleged profiteering to avoid government scrutiny for nearly three decades.
Veteran sports broadcaster Eric Chien (錢定遠) said it was widely known that Winner Express always got the exclusive contract for the national team’s travel arrangements.
“Some athletes have wanted to go through other travel agencies, but their requests were always rejected. The Olympic committee told athletes to only use Winner Express,” he said.
Chien said that even though the official process was for public tender bids, Winner Express always secured the contract for national teams participating at major international events.
“Airfare, tour arrangements and accommodation were bundled into a package. Winner Express set a package price with a 20 percent markup on the total cost. This company has over the years made very high profits from this business,” Chien said during a televised interview.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) said that although the CTOC is not a government agency, it has semi-official status and represents the nation in international sports.
“Giving most business related to the Olympics to Tsai’s company leaves a bad impression and opens it up to public criticism,” he said.
Following numerous complaints, the Control Yuan investigated the matter in 2012, and found irregularities and “problems that need to be addressed” regarding the public tender process.
Winner Express later changed its registration of ownership to Tsai’s son, Tsai Yi-fan (蔡逸凡), following accusations of a of conflict of interest.
The firm’s staff said they did not provide tour packages for the Rio Olympics delegation, but added that the agency did provide packages for a government delegation to Rio for a “study tour.”
Fu Jen Catholic University assistant professor Chou Wei-hang (周偉航), known online as Ninjia Text (人渣文本), said the public should thank Hsieh for throwing a brick at the “vat” that is Taiwan’s sports program and exposing what is going on.
“Hsieh’s action was like throwing a brick and making a big hole in this vat, allowing people to see what is inside; it is full of putrid liquid and decaying material. This odious mess was the result of many decades of collusion between executives of governing bodies, team coaches, referees and sports journalists,” Chou said.
One netizen, surnamed Hsueh (薛), wrote: “So now we see where taxpayers’ money goes when the government says how much funding it gives athletes. Much of these so-called ‘subsidies’ went into the pockets of top sports officials, who are well-connected to politicians, instead of going to athletes. This is another reason Taiwan’s sports programs are so badly managed and are full of corruption and profiteering.”
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