Taiwan soccer officials and national squad’s English head coach Gary White yesterday sharply criticized Chinese-language Next Magazine, calling a three-part feature published on Tuesday about the alleged falsifying of a 2016 match result and resulting FIFA investigation as groundless accusations.
The Next report was “an absolute disgrace,” as there is basis to the accusations, which are unfair to the players who have worked very hard to improve Taiwan’s world ranking, White said at a news conference in Taipei.
Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) secretary-general Chen Wei-jen (陳威仁) said the story contained untrue information, and vowed to sue the online magazine and the author of the story for libel.
Photo: Lin Yueh-fu, Taipei Times
Citing information from soccer insiders and others, the article alleged that CTFA officials and coaches on both sides contrived to forge the match report for an international friendly against Guam on March 19, 2016, to show a 2-2 draw, when the actual score was a 3-2 win for Taiwan.
White was coaching the Guam team at the time.
The two teams had colluded to play for a draw so they could gain points for their international ranking, the article said.
It also said a three-person FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) delegation that visited Taiwan last month to assess the CTFA election had also been asked to investigate the fraudulent match report.
The author also said that CFTA and White had squandered most of the government’s NT$20 million (US$668,271 at the current exchange rate) budget for soccer development last year with very little results to show for it.
White had sought to earn points by beating weak teams from lower-ranked Asian nations, the article said.
Many Team Taiwan players showed up at the news conference, standing behind White and Chen in a show of support.
Chen and White said the article was completely wrong.
The CTFA boss presented copies of the official game report for the Guam match filed with FIFA and the AFC and other documents to support their position.
Chen also showed reporters a correspondent from in instant message app he had with FIFA officials, who said last month’s trip had been purely for the CTFA election and had nothing to do with the March 19, 2016, match report.
The official match documents showed the final score as 3-2 for Taiwan, Chen said, which meant there was no fraud.
White said he could not tolerate the accusation he had colluded to get a draw in the 2016 game.
“This is a very serious charge. It amounts to accusing people of manipulating the match result. It is an attack on the personal integrity of the coaches and players,” he said.
As for the allegations about wasting the government’s money, the budget for soccer development is actually very small for the nation the size of Taiwan, it is less than countries that have a lower ranking than Taiwan, and also less than some countries who rank ahead of Taiwan, he said.
His aim in working with Taiwanese soccer players had always been to make progress, to improve the team from where it was when he took it over, White said.
Players must have “soul” to play on the team, he said.
That meant S for sacrifice; O for ownership, taking responsibility, U for unity and playing as a team; and L for legacy, to leave a legacy for future generation of fans and players, he said.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
Restarting the No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant would take up to 18 months, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said today. Kuo was answering questions during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, where legislators are considering amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條) amid concerns about the consequences of the Pingtung County reactor’s decommissioning scheduled for May 17. Its decommissioning is to mark the end of Taiwan’s nuclear power production. However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) that would extend the life of existing
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday demanded that Somalia reverse its decision prohibiting Taiwanese passport holders from entering or transiting through the country. Somalia said it is following the “one China” principle based on UN Resolution 2758. The ministry said that Somalia is misinterpreting the resolution under China’s instigation, creating a false impression that Taiwan is subordinate to China. The Somali Civil Aviation Authority told airlines on Tuesday last week that starting today, any passengers with passports or travel documents issued from Taiwan or its affiliated institutions would not be allowed to enter or transit through Somalia. The decision comes as Taiwan is boosting
RSS