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.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS