Soccer fans have the opportunity to vote on a new nickname and slogan for the men’s and women’s national squads ahead of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and Asian Games.
Online voting is open until Aug. 14, the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) said in a news release earlier this month.
People can vote at https://contest.plus1today.tw/ctfanationalteam/?v=156771&_trms=ebe8a2637e1a8171.1690553323876
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Football Association
“The CTFA is looking to rally our citizens to support the national teams, and so it is organizing a contest for all soccer fans and friends to vote on a special new name for the squad,” the CTFA said, adding that it aims to “create a positive image for all age levels of Taiwan soccer in international competitions.”
The CTFA has provided four nickname options to vote on: Island Fighters (島嶼鬥士), Blue Mags (我們的藍鵲們), Blue Wings (藍翼軍團) and Blue Claws (藍爪軍團).
The five choices for the new slogans are “Back your Blue Mags” (支持你的足球國家隊), “Claws out” (猛爪出擊), “Fight for your dream” (為夢想而戰), “Run till goal” (狂奔直到攻破球門) and “Aka La Lima” (突破困難).
“Aka La Lima” might seem like an odd tribute to Peru’s capital city, but the CTFA said it comes from the Amis people on Taiwan’s east coast, and means “getting past the fifth wave.” It is a colloquial expression meant as an encouragement to keep fighting under difficult conditions, to never give up or accept defeat.
Many people on Taiwan’s soccer chat sites have asked for more options, as some have found the proposed nicknames unfamiliar and lacking in connection.
When Taiwan’s national team began to be noticed on the Asian soccer stage in the 1960s, they had no well-recognized symbol or nickname.
Domestic sports media and supporters traditionally referred them as “Zhonghua Team” (中華隊), “the Blues” or “the Blue shirts” (藍衫軍), as the national kit was blue when players traveled overseas during the Martial Law era. It alluded to the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) “blue sky with a white sun” emblem.
In recent decades, as the national identity has changed, it has become more common to hear people cheering for “Team Taiwan,” while supporters from the “Blue Gale” (藍色疾風) soccer group have taken to using the “All Hail Formosa” slogan and chanting “Formosa Oh ole.” They refer to national players as the “Formosan Warriors.”
Sports experts and international soccer observers have also called for “Mulan” (木蘭) to be dropped as the nickname for the women’s team, in favor of the “Blue Magpies,” due to controversy surrounding the Disney film Mulan and because it was coined during the KMT’s rule.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and