Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) yesterday urged the Sports Administration to ask the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association to return the fines it had collected from athletes for failing to use the attire and equipment provided by the national team’s official sponsor, adding that a neutral arbitration agency should be established to settle the dispute between the athletes and the association.
The association’s operations have come under scrutiny after it threatened to fine badminton player Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) for not wearing shoes provided by the national team’s official sponsor, Yonex.
Tai said she did not wear the sponsor’s shoes because one of her feet is bigger than the other, adding that she got abrasions and blisters on her feet wearing Yonex’s shoes, as they were made for people whose feet are the same size.
Tai said she wore the customized shoes provided by her personal sponsor, Victor, adding that they did not bear the company’s logo.
However, the association still deemed the move a violation of the sponsorhip rules.
Huang said that many athletes and coaches reached out to him to talk about their issues after he spoke out against the sponsor’s demands.
However, fearing retribution from the association and sponsors, many of the sportspeople chose not to attend a news conference yesterday, he added.
Huang showed a letter written by badminton player Liao Kuan-hao (廖冠皓), who was fined NT$300,000 (US$9,428) by the association in 2014 for violating the terms of his sponsorship deal and was suspended from competitions for three months.
In the letter, Liao said he was only able to pay the fine after he won bronze at the 2014 Asian Games, for which he received NT$900,000 through Guo Guang Athletic Medals and Scholarships (國光體育獎章及獎助學金頒發辦法).
There are many cases in other nations in which athletes do not strictly follow the terms of the deals struck between sports associations and sponsors, sports commentator Max Shih (石明謹) said.
Citing the Olympic gold medal match between Chinese badminton player Lin Dan (林丹) and Malaysian badminton player Lee Chong Wei (李宗偉) as an example, Shih said Lin was wearing a shirt manufactured by Chinese sports retailer Li-Ning, but he was using a Yonex racket and wearing Yonex shoes.
“Members of the Malaysian national team are supposed to wear shirts and shoes produced by their sponsor, Victor, and use the company’s rackets in the competitions. However, Lee was given special permission to wear Yonex shirts and shoes and use its rackets when competing in the singles matches,” Shih said.
The dispute involving Tai took place because the association signed a contract with Yonex that was apparently disadvantageous for the athletes, Shih said.
He asked why Yonex insisted that Taiwanese athletes follow their sponsorship deals to the letter when it has been making allowances to athletes from other nations.
“Although there is no legal precedent in the nation that defines how a contract between the association and a sponsor applies to third parties [athletes], it does not mean that the association has complete control over the athletes or athletes have no say over the sponsorship deal,” he said.
The association received about NT$8 million in government subsidies and NT$25 million from its sponsorship deal with Yonex this year, Huang said, adding that it also has the right to determine if an athlete can register for a competition.
He said the association paid NT$5.47 million in taxes between 2014 and last year, which means that it has a revenue of more than NT$100 million.
The association did not account for how it generated its revenue, Huang said.
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