Amid the chaos of yesterday’s game between Taiwan and India, news has emerged that former national team coach, Chen Kuei-jen, was ejected from the game at halftime for shouting ‘Go Taiwan’. Additionally, Radio Taiwan has reported that Taiwanese fans also had placards with pictures of Taiwan’s players taken away by security.

Although no longer employed by the CTFA, it is understood that Chen was at the game as a representative of the Ministry for Sport.

According to various media and social media reports, Chen began shouting the phrase when he was approached by game security and told to stop. At halftime, a group of security staff then came back to speak Chen and demanded that he leave.

Footage has since been published online after Chen was led away from the stands and into a corridor. A group of Taiwanese fans had followed Chen out and began to remonstrate with the security staff. At one point, a member of the staff attempted to explain the situation;

“I’ve just asked this gentleman to leave. We don’t want the police involved so I said to just grab his things and he’s got to leave the venue [….] I’m just relaying what I’ve been told […] Unfortunately, it’s not me making the decision”.

The reason for this decision obviously appears to be that Chen shouted ‘Taiwan’ instead of ‘Chinese Taipei’. Other media outlets have also reported that Taiwanese spectators were also warned to only use the phrase, ‘Chinese Taipei’. The compromise term that allows Taiwan to compete at the international level has long been a source of frustration for Taiwanese sports fans.

But what has also riled Taiwanese fans is that shortly after Chen was removed, two white Australians then picked up the chanting (including reportedly shouting ‘go Taiwan’) and faced no consequences from stadium staff.

Given that this is the first reported incident of this during the AFC Finals– and also the first time that Taiwan have played in Sydney during the tournament– this may well be an outlier. Chen has since posted his own account of the situation and confirmed that his credentials have not been revoked and he will return for Taiwan’s next game.

But given the political headache of the AFC quarter-final match up between Taiwan and China, there will now be further scrutiny about how Taiwanese fans are allowed to support their national team going forward.

Photo Credit: PTS News