The P.League+ (PLG) yesterday fined the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots’ star player Shawn Chou NT$500,000 after he was caught driving under the influence (DUI), while the team on Monday evening announced that he would leave the franchise after the traffic stop last month was made public.
In addition to the fine, Chou would be required to complete at least 300 hours of “public welfare service,” the league said, after convening a disciplinary committee hearing yesterday morning.
He has also had his rights suspended for one year with immediate effect, meaning he is banned from playing in the league and prohibited from negotiating a contract with any PLG team, it said in a news release.
Photo: CNA
The PLG has zero tolerance toward drunk driving, it said, adding that Chou had set a bad example for society.
The Pilots on Monday said in a statement that the small forward requested to leave the franchise because “he felt he had let the public down,” which the team approved with immediate effect.
Chou’s “drunk driving and refusal to take a breath alcohol test have seriously violated the franchise’s management principles and his contract. The franchise strongly condemns his actions,” the team said in the statement.
The Taipei City Police Department said that Chou had been stopped in Xinyi District (信義) early on Aug. 26 for using his smartphone while driving.
Because officers had detected the smell of alcohol from his car, they asked him to take a DUI breath test, but Chou refused to comply, despite being warned that refusal would result in a fine of NT$180,000, it said.
In addition to the fine, his driver’s license was revoked at the scene, and he would be required to attend road safety lectures.
Lu Cheng-ju, who played for the PLG’s Kaohsiung 17LIVE Steelers at the time, was also in the car.
Lu, who has since joined the New Taipei Kings in the new Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL), on Monday apologized for letting fans down and failing to stop Chou, saying his inaction contradicted his social responsibility as a professional athlete.
“I will hold myself to a higher standard and humbly accept whatever punishment the league and the franchise impose on me,” he said.
The Kings yesterday fined Lu NT$500,000 for failing to stop Chou from driving despite knowing he was under the influence.
Chou, 33, had struggled in the Chinese Basketball Association for five years before joining the Steelers in February 2022. He was traded to the Pilots last year.
Once referred to by fans as the Taiwanese LeBron James for his explosiveness on the court, rarely seen in domestic basketball, Chou had been trying to regain his form, especially after undergoing surgery on his right knee meniscus in February last year.
He averaged 6.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and three assists over 27 games.
The PLG has shrunk from six teams to four following the establishment of the TPBL. The loss of Chou in the upcoming season could be another blow to the league.
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