Wed, Sep 28, 2016 page3

• Reforming sports groups needs care

  • By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
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  While the Sports Administration acts as overseer of the nation’s sports associations, experts say the government must avoid overstepping its authority and hurting athletes.

  A major overhaul of the sports associations was proposed after several athletes complained about the treatment they received while competing in international events, from tennis player Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) quitting the Rio de Janiero Olympics to the penalties handed down by the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association to Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) for overstepping the terms of a sponsorship agreement.

  Sports Administration Director-General Ho Jwo-fei (何卓飛) on Monday told a public hearing hosted by the New Power Party (NPP) legislative caucus that the disputes between the athletes and sports bureaucrats have happened before and the Rio Games showed it was time to change how the sports associations operate.

  The Civil Associations Act (人民團體法) has been proven inadequate in regulating the associations, while some people have questioned whether the associations can truly represent the nation considering the way they handle membership applications, Ho said.

  “Many of these national associations accept mainly individuals. Some associations have even rejected applications filed by members of a group from different locations,” he said.

  The associations should be overhauled to focus on the athletes and coaches, instead of the groups’ management, he said.

  The National Sports Act (國民體育法) should be amended to regulate the operations of sports associations because they accept government subsidies and function as the point of contact between the government and international sports organizations, he said.

  Ho said that he supported the reform proposal made by the NPP, which includes recruiting professionals to manage the associations, expanding association memberships to more qualified athletes, having an independent member serve on the board of each group, enforcing measures to ensure that associations manage their finances transparently and suspending those groups that violate the regulations.

  Most of the participants at the public hearing also agreed on the general direction of reform, but cautioned the undue interferences from the government could hurt the associations and athletes.

  Lawyer Hsieh Fu-kai (謝富凱) said the sports associations, which are private-sector groups, determine if an athlete is able to compete in international competitions, but the government cannot meddle with them too much or the associations could face sanctions from international sports bodies.

  The International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year suspended the Kuwait Olympic Committee after the Kuwaiti government amended legislation covering sports, he said.

  Taiwan’s government need to protect the nation’s athletes as it exercises its authority to oversee the sports associations, Hsieh said.

  Sports commentator Max Shih (石明瑾) also cited the Indonesian Football Association, which was suspended by FIFA and barred from the qualifiers of the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup because of government meddling in Indonesia’s domestic league.

  Any amendment to the National Sports Act must clearly define the relationship between the associations, the athletes and the government, so that athletes know if they should seek arbitration and lawsuits to settle disputes, Shih said.

  Lee Shiao-tee (李孝悌), a professor at National Taiwan Sports University, said athletes should form a union to fight for their interests in case of disputes with sports associations.
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