The Sports Affairs Council yesterday welcomed the passage of the Sports Industry Development Act (運動產業發展條例) on Monday, saying corporations that hire “excellent athletes” would be compensated by the government for up to 30 percent of the athlete’s salary over a period of up to five years.
Sports Affairs Council Minister Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) said the act would undoubtedly help expand career choices for the nation’s athletes.
“So far, athletes have had very limited career opportunities after they retire. Either they become physical education teachers and coaches or they become government employees,” Tai said, adding that the new program would give them more options.
For example, she said that a large corporation such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co could hire an athlete to be an instructor of the firms’ employees.
When asked to define what she meant by “excellent athletes,” Tai said it would include those who represented the nation at major international events, such as the Olympics or the Asian Games.
For athletes who cannot compete in the Olympics or the Asian Games, such as the nation’s soccer team, Tai said the matter would require further discussions among sports researchers, sporting associations and corporations. Discussion were also need to clarify whether the measure would apply to both current and retired athletes.
Tai said funding for the reimbursements would not come from the annual operational budget of the council. Rather, it would come directly from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, she said.
The measure would also encourage more athletes to play for national teams, she said.
Ho Chin-liang (何金樑), director of the council’s research and planning department, said the measure would help extend athlete’s careers and also provide them with job security.
He said large corporations could hire exceptional athletes so they could play on teams owned by the corporations, adding that the athletes could become full-time employees of the corporations should they choose to retire.
“Corporations could also hire athletes and allow them to train and participate in sports events, although this still needs further discussion,” Ho said.
Tai said the act would increase demand for sports and offer incentives for corporations to sponsor sporting events.
“Whatever corporations spent on athletes, games, sports facilities or buying tickets for disadvantaged groups can be listed as operating costs when they file their taxes. There is no cap on how much they can spend either,” Tai said. “You won’t get the same privilege if you buy tickets to see a music concert or for the Flora Expo.”
TECH SECTOR: Nvidia Corp also announced its intent to build an overseas headquarters in Taiwan, with Taipei and New Taipei City each attempting to woo the US chipmaker The US-based Super Micro Computer Inc and Taiwan’s Guo Rui on Wednesday announced a joint venture to build a computation center powered only by renewable energy. After meeting with Supermicro founder Charles Liang (梁見後) and Guo Rui chairman Lin Po-wen (林博文), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) instructed a cross-ministry panel to be established to help promote the government’s green energy policies and facilitate efforts to obtain land for the generation of green power, Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said. Cho thanked Liang for his company’s support of the government’s 2019 Action Plan for Welcoming Overseas Taiwanese Businesses to Return to Invest in
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
RSS