An investigation by National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) found that a coach on the women’s soccer team forced players to donate blood or risk losing academic credits, the Ministry of Education said yesterday.
The ministry recommended a two-year dismissal for the coach and said it would monitor NTNU’s handling of the situation.
In November last year, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) said that a coach on the NTNU women’s soccer team was forcing players to cooperate with a sports science research project.
Photo: screen grab from the Internet
The research project was led by the National Science and Technology Council.
Citing a complaint from a player, Chen at the time said that athletes were forced to give blood three times a day for 14 days, with the coach threatening to withhold graduation credits if they refused to cooperate.
Initially, blood samples were taken by those with no medical training, Chen said, adding that some athletes were required to withdraw from training for up to six months.
In a news statement issued on Sunday evening, NTNU said that the school had completed its investigation.
The university removed the coach from administrative and coaching positions in December last year, it said, adding that the coach would no longer be allowed to lead teams.
Department staff provided the athletes with a signed letter of apology from the coach in May, it added.
NTNU filed a report on Nov. 29 last year and launched an investigation in accordance with its bullying prevention guidelines, the ministry said in a written statement yesterday.
The university also offered students consultation and counseling resources, the ministry added.
Due to the case’s complexity, the investigation was extended by one month, it said.
The ministry said that the NTNU Campus Anti-bullying Committee concluded that the coach had engaged in bullying behavior toward the students, adding that further action would be determined by the university’s teacher evaluation committee.
The ministry said that it would continue to monitor the school’s review and actions, adding that it would request a re-examination and hold officials responsible if the school were to fail to abide by the Teachers’ Act (教師法).
An ethics committee in May found that the research project contravened the Human Subjects Research Act (人體研究法), with the university and personnel failing to provide proper oversight.
If serious contraventions of the act are confirmed, the project’s researchers and NTNU could face administrative penalties.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS