The Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association yesterday evening apologized for barring Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from participating in the World Table Tennis’ (WTT) US Smash in Las Vegas this year.
The apology came after a meeting with the Ministry of Education officials yesterday afternoon.
The ministry on Monday night suspended some of its subsidies to the association and said it would remove the association’s secretary-general, Yeh Kuo-ching (葉國欽), from office if it did not apologize to 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian.
Photo: CNA
The ministry yesterday afternoon invited association officials to discuss the incident and the parties reached a consensus on three matters.
First, Yeh Kuo-ching apologized for barring Yeh Yi-tian from participating in the US Smash competition without the approval of her coach, Chuang Chih-yuan (莊智淵).
Second, the association agreed to better prioritize athletes, and communicate with them and coaches more clearly.
Third, the Sports Administration and the association would jointly host international table tennis tournaments in Taiwan.
The Sports Administration said that it would reinstate the funding to the association and Yeh Kuo-ching can remain in office.
On Sunday, the administration said that it gave the association one day to apologize to Yeh Yi-tian.
The association only said that it humbly accepted all criticisms about its handling of the incident and would offer an official explanation following a special board meeting.
The association yesterday remained defiant about the Sports Administration’s order, with a managing director of the association saying that the administration heard the incident only from Chuang without verifying it with the association.
Athletes in the government-run Gold Program are obligated to represent the country in international games, the association’s Chen Hsin-yen (陳信諺) said.
“Because the schedule of the Asia Youth Table Tennis Championships clashes with the US Smash, athletes can only choose one. Yeh Yi-tian would represent the country in the former... As someone who is funded by the country to win international games, she should prioritize the championships over the US Smash,” Chen said.
Other players also faced the same dilemma, but only Yeh Yi-tian was unwilling to give up the US Smash, Chen said.
The association’s selection and training committee on May 8 rejected the requests of Yeh Yi-tian and three other players to skip the championships, he said.
Athletes are required to clearly indicate if they would participate in the US Smash before the registration deadline, and if they miss the tournament after they register without any legitimate reasons, their accumulated points could be deducted by the WTT, as had happened to Lin Yun-ru (林昀儒), he said.
“We were trying to protect athletes from being penalized. Even if the WTT was informed that Yeh Yi-tian was not going, we could still recommend another player to participate in the tournament,” he said.
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