TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's Sports Administration (體育署), the country's top sports governing body, announced Monday (June 1) it will suspend all funding for the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA, 中華民國桌球協會) following the organization's controversial decision to withdraw 17-year-old rising star Yeh Yi-Tian (葉伊恬) from the prestigious World Table Tennis (WTT) Grand Smash tournament scheduled for July in Las Vegas.
The administration plans to deliver an official letter of suspension Tuesday (June 2), explicitly demanding a public apology from CTTTA Secretary-General Yeh Kuo-chin (葉國欽) for the handling of the situation. Officials indicated that failure to comply could result in more severe administrative penalties, including the potential replacement of the secretary-general and possible legal consequences for mismanagement of athlete opportunities.
Chuang Chih-yuan (莊智淵), Yeh Yi-tian's coach and a veteran international table tennis player himself, responded to the controversy through social media channels. While acknowledging the need for administrative action, Chuang urged the Sports Administration to prioritize the needs of developing athletes and maintain a supportive training environment throughout any reform process targeting the association's governance practices.
The veteran coach expressed appreciation to the sports director for responding to concerns raised by athletes and coaches at the grassroots level. Chuang specifically commended the administration's commitment to transparency and its efforts to improve governance standards within national sports associations, noting that such reforms would ultimately benefit Taiwan's international competitiveness in table tennis.
The coach sharply criticized the association's handling of the situation, accusing officials of failing to engage in timely negotiations with World Table Tennis organizers to resolve the scheduling conflict. Chuang stated he only discovered Yeh had been excluded from the Las Vegas tournament after the official draw was released without her name. This lack of communication, he argued, demonstrated the association's failure to advocate effectively for athletes' rights and opportunities on the international stage.
In its defense, the association released a statement claiming that Yeh, as a member of Taiwan's national U19 team and participant in the "Golden Project for Olympic Preparation," is required to compete in four designated youth tournaments annually, including the upcoming Asian Youth Championships in Uzbekistan. The CTTTA maintained that it advised Yeh and several other players to prioritize the youth championships over the Las Vegas tournament due to scheduling conflicts, though Yeh's mother told local media Sunday that the association should "be on the players' side and help them" rather than limiting opportunities ◼