A go player said that she was forced to leave the national team for the upcoming Asian Games after she was sexually harassed by the then-head coach, go legend Chou Chun-hsun (周俊勳), and bullied by other players for filing a complaint about it.
Chou last night on Facebook wrote that he had resigned as coach, but denied the accusations.
Su Sheng-fang (蘇聖芳), 26, recently told the Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine that Chou harassed her twice in November last year.
Photo: CNA
The first incident occurred in the middle of the month, when Chou allegedly walked up to her and “fondled” her back after she lost a game, Su said.
She said that Chou allegedly harassed her again at the end of the month, when she was frustrated that a game did not go as she had expected.
In January, Su said she filed a sexual harassment complaint against Chou with the HaiFong Go Association, which trains players for the national team.
Chou had earlier said that he only touched, but did not fondle, her back to encourage her.
Su also said that Chou and 20 players bullied her after she filed the complaint, adding that she was forced to leave the national team after signing an affidavit that says that she was voluntarily leaving because she was “mentally and physically unfit” for training.
Prior to resigning, Chou wrote on Facebook that he was “shocked,” “puzzled” and “saddened” by Su’s accusations, adding that all the claims against him did not happen.
“I will fully cooperate with the investigation jointly launched by the National Sports Training Center and the Chinese Taipei Go Association. I am also prepared to defend my honor and that of the national team through legal action,” he said.
Chinese Taipei Go Association secretary-general Chin Shih-min (秦世敏)told the Central News Agency that Su had said she wanted to withdraw from the team because she was experiencing heart palpitations and other side effects from receiving COVID-19 vaccines.
“She then told the head coach of the national team before the Lunar New Year holiday that she wanted to quit training. We reminded her that it was not easy to qualify for the national team, and that she should really use the holiday to reconsider. However, after the holiday, she filed an official request to leave at the end of January,” Chin said, adding that they have not had contact with her since then.
In other news, the Sports Administration yesterday expressed condolences on behalf of Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) and Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) to the family of deaf bowler Chiu Ching-ling (邱景陵), who died on a return flight from the World Deaf Bowling Championships in Munich, Germany.
The national bowling team won two gold, two silver and five bronze medals at the championships.
Chiu’s family would be compensated based on the rules governing the distribution of funds for short-term disability or death of national team players and staff due to training or competition, the administration said.
The Chinese Taipei Deaf Sports Federation said that the cause of death has not yet been determined, adding that it is helping Chiu’s family arrange the funeral.
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