In the aftermath of Taiwan‘s brave defeat to China in the AFC Women’s Finals, back home a political bomb show has been dropped regarding the CTFA’s questionable use of its budget between 2022 and 2024.

Following a statement by Chi Hui-jung, an ombudsman who works for the Central Yuan (Taiwan’s regulatory and auditing body), a number of Chinese and English language outlets have carried reports about misspending by the country’s football Association from 2022 to 2024.

The Taipei Times noted that the CTFA received almost NTD 596 million from the Ministry of Sports and the National Sports Training Center between 2022 and 2024. This was in addition to $1 million from FIFA and the AFC. With all this money combined, the CTFA would have received the highest amount of subsidies from among all 44 of the various sports associations in Taiwan.

Mirror Media added that that time, overspending within the CTFA sometimes was by as much as 50%.  RTI News also noted that in some years, the international match broadcasting budget overran by 200% and that equipment purchases lacked signatures.

Chu also criticized both the Ministry of Sport and the National Sports Training Center, stating that both groups had ‘failed to effectively prevent the [CTFA] from making mistakes in related procurement projects [and] failed to fulfill their supervisory responsibilities’. A change in attitude from both the CTFA and also the supervisory bodies, Chu writes is critical;

“The government invests huge sums of public funds every year to subsidize individual sports associations such as the [CTFA], with the aim of improving sports development and cultivating outstanding athletes. However, the [CTFA] has serious deficiencies [;] It should take more proactive measures to improve the domestic sports environment, effectively utilize national financial and sports resources, and ensure that our athletes can compete on the stage without any worries and strive for excellent results”.

It should be noted that the budgeting issues took place under the previous regime and since 2025, the CTFA is under new management via the leadership under Valkyrie chairman, Chang Tsan. As it stands, no one among the senior administration appears to be caught up in the budgetary failings from that time, although the issues from 2022-2024 mean that the CTFA will be monitored closely for the foreseeable future. 

Photo Credit: LTN & Fang Wei-lin.