The Sports Administration has approved a preliminary design plan for the construction of a soccer stadium in Taichung’s Nantun District (南屯) which, when completed, would be the first in the nation qualified to host tournaments organized by the Asian Football Confederation.
Facilities available for national soccer team players came under scrutiny following the women’s national team’s extraordinary performance last week in the Women’s Asian Cup in India.
Forward Su Yu-hsuan (蘇育萱), who scored a goal in the playoff game against Vietnam, told a post-game news conference that she hoped Taiwan builds more training facilities for soccer players so they can engage in high-quality training.
Photo courtesy of Chinese Taipei Football Association
Taiwan’s team was the only one in the Women’s Asian Cup without a fixed training venue.
The soccer stadium — to be built on the intersection of Yifeng Road Sec 3 and Longfu 9th Road — would be equipped with one 11-a-side natural grass pitch, one 11-a-side artificial turf pitch and two five-a-side artificial turf pitches, as well as other facilities, the Sports Administration said.
The stadium would be able to accommodate 7,254 spectators, with 6,000 fixed seats, 1,200 temporary seats and 54 spots for spectators in wheelchairs, the agency added.
The agency had consulted the Chinese Taipei Football Association and Taiwan Women’s Football Players Association about the design of the stadium, it said, adding that it would provide the Taichung City Government with a NT$500 million subsidy to build it.
Construction of the stadium is to begin at the end of this year and is expected to be completed by 2025, it said.
As part of the nation’s six-year soccer development program, the government has since 2017 used funds allocated through the Forward-Looking Infrastructure Development Program to subsidize Kaohsiung, New Taipei City, and Yilan and Hsinchu Counties in building and renovating soccer pitches, the agency said.
Except for pitches in Kaohsiung and Yilan County, which are still under construction, other facilities have been completed, it said.
Due to a lack of a fixed training venue, the women’s national team also faced other challenges when practicing for the qualifiers, local media reports said.
The nation’s two best soccer pitches — at the Taipei Municipal Stadium and the Kaohsiung National Stadium — are artificial grass fields.
Both venues were under renovation when the team was training for qualifiers, and the team had to constantly move around training facilities in Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi County, the reports said.
National team players were accused of illegally gathering when the nation raised the COVID-19 alert to level 3 due to the surge of locally transmitted cases and a ban on outdoor gatherings of 10 people or more was imposed.
Taiwan’s last chance to compete in the Women’s World Cup will be through a 10-team inter-confederation playoff tournament from Thursday to Wednesday next week, in which the national team must reach the top three.
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