Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers have criticized Sports Administration officials for ignoring calls for reforming sports governing bodies.
DPP Legislator Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) said the public is demanding reforms due to allegations of abuse of power by sports governing bodies, as well as allegations of financial irregularity, influence-peddling and strict control over athletes stemming from the Rio Olympic Games in July last year.
“At the time, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) asked the Sports Administration to propose reform policies and institute changes in response to demands by the public,” Huang said.
“However, Sports Administration officials were slack in their work and belatedly presented a draft plan [in November last year], which was flawed and unsatisfactory to most people. So they had to prepare a revised version. Such is the inadequacy and poor work of the Sports Administration, which is under the Ministry of Education,” he said.
“The Sports Administration is like players accepting money to lose games and deceiving the fans,” he added.
DPP Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) said that the government had given financial support to fund sports governing bodies and programs for athletes.
“The largest amount was granted to the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, which received NT$150 million [US$4.65 million at current exchange rates] in 2015 and 2016. Next was the Chinese Taipei Tennis Association, receiving NT$130 million during the same period,” Chang said.
“The government provides all these funds, but we do not see improvement in sports endeavors,” he said. “The situation in the nation is that child or young athletes make great achievements in sports, but when it comes to adults, they have nothing to show.”
It is because the athletes have to quit sports, or see a decline in their performance, after graduating from school, Chang said.
“This is because the environment for sports in the nation is inadequate; training programs are not based on scientific methods,” he added.
“There are no amateur or professional competitions to help athletes hone their skills. After student athletes graduate, they no longer receive training and make no progress and many have sustained injuries,” Chang said.
Meanwhile, lawmakers at the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee on Wednesday last week discussed only nine of 45 proposed amendments to the National Sports Act (國民體育法).
The proposals are to be revisited in March at the earliest, if another committee session cannot be scheduled during the legislature’s extraordinary session this month.
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