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SAC denies pulling
support for Yang
PLAYING GAMES: A DPP lawmaker alleged that CTTA
chairman Angus Hsu threatened to pull Yang Shu-chun off the London Olympic team
if she did not withdraw her appeal
By Shelley Shan / Staff Reporter
The Sports Affairs Council (SAC) yesterday said the government never wavered in
its support for Taiwanese taekwondo athlete Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君), adding that
Yang and the Chinese Taipei Taekwondo Association (CTTA) had different opinions
regarding an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) of her
disqualification at the Asian Games last year.
Yang said last month she had decided to withdraw her appeal to the CAS so she
could focus on training for next year’s Summer Games in London.
However, former CTTA chairman Chen Chien-ping (陳建平) said in an article in the
Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) yesterday
that Yang was forced to drop the appeal and sign a proxy enabling the CTTA to
handle the lawsuit on her behalf under threat from association officials.
Joining the attacks, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accused President Ma
Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration and CTTA chairman Angus Hsu (許安進) of negligence
and intimidation.
DPP spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the DPP had evidence proving that Hsu had
pressured Yang to withdraw her appeal.
Hsu visited Seoul in April to negotiate with the World Taekwondo Federation
about the case and reported to SAC Minister Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) on May 17, Chen
said, adding that Yang made more than a dozen phone calls to SAC Deputy Minister
Steven Chen (陳士魁) for help after her June 6 meeting with Hsu.
To compel Yang to withdraw her appeal, Hsu threatened Yang by saying that her
place on the Olympic taekwondo team, the position of her boyfriend and coach Liu
Tsung-ta (劉聰達), as well as training expenses, would all be at stake, Chen Chi-mai
said.
Hsu played a key role in the withdrawal decision, Chen Chi-mai said, because
“Yang never mentioned it before Hsu’s visit to South Korea.”
Steven Chen told a press conference yesterday morning that Yang had informed the
council of her meeting with Hsu and other CTTA officials on June 6, but the
deputy minister said Yang and CTTA officials had differing views on the appeal.
“In the meeting, Hsu tried to talk Yang into withdrawing the appeal, but Yang
was unwilling to do so for various reasons,” Steven Chen said. “Each side stood
their ground. Yang felt that she would not be able to leave the meeting if she
did not sign the proxy, which she eventually signed.”
Steven Chen said the council did not recognize the proxy and wanted to hear from
Yang herself. He said the council had been in contact with Yang between that
time and the day she announced her decision to withdraw the appeal.
“I spoke to her on the phone before the press conference and told her not to
take it,” Steven Chen said, adding that the council also told Hsu it could not
force her to drop the appeal.
In a press conference yesterday afternoon, Chen Chien-ping stood by his
statement.
“If you were told that you may not be able to represent your country to compete
in the Olympics next year and your boyfriend [Liu] may not be recruited as a
coach for the Olympics, could this not seen a threat?” Chen Chien-ping said.
“Why did she cry if she was not under threat?”
Chen Chien-ping said CTTA officials had held more than one meeting with Yang,
adding that each meeting lasted about six to seven hours.
“She finally could not take it anymore and asked SAC officials to stand with her
so that the CTTA would not make her sign it, but the SAC officials said it was
beyond their jurisdiction to do so,” Chen Chien-ping said.
The former CTTA chairman said he was not afraid of being sued because one of the
participants in the meeting had recorded the conversations.
Hsu said last night he would sue Chen Chien-ping over his statements, which he
said had damaged his reputation. Hsu denied the CTTA had forced Yang to drop the
lawsuit.
Hsu said Yang entrusted the CTTA with the lawsuit so that she could concentrate
on her training. Because of the proxy signed by Yang, Hsu said that he was able
to ask for opinions from the 225 representatives of taekwondo associations
nationwide — 207 of which said in written statements that the association should
withdraw the appeal.
“We dropped the appeal after receiving an official apology from the Asian
Taekwondo Union,” Hsu said. “I am the CTTA chairman and I cannot take the chance
of scuttling our right to participate in [future] competitions.”
Additional reporting by Chris Wang
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