Press Conference Held on the 19th with Public Apology
Numerous Suspicions and Criticisms Persist
The head coach of the National Taiwan Normal University (hereafter NTNU) women's football team, a prestigious university in Taiwan, has come under fire for allegedly forcing students to participate in human experiments under the pretext of graduation credits. In response to the controversy, the coach and school officials eventually held a press conference and bowed their heads in apology.
According to Taiwanese media outlets such as the China Times and the China Times Express on the 21st, Zhou Taiying, the head coach of the NTNU women's football team, forced students to participate in her experiment. Reports state that Coach Zhou explained to the players that the project was for sports science research by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) of Taiwan, and demanded that they have their blood drawn three times a day for 14 consecutive days.
It is reported that players who refused to have their blood drawn were threatened with expulsion from the team and told that their mandatory graduation credits (32 credits) would not be recognized. In connection with this, the affected students stated, "Over four years of university, we essentially exchanged 32 credits for more than 200 blood collection tubes." Furthermore, the blood draws were performed by team staff members who had not received medical training, and written consent was obtained only after the blood had been collected, raising additional procedural concerns.
This incident came to light after a student who attended NTNU revealed the situation. Although such conduct by the coach had continued for several years, many Taiwanese media outlets pointed out that the school failed to fulfill its supervisory responsibilities and remained indifferent to students' complaints.
As the controversy grew, NTNU held a press conference on the 19th, where President Wu Chengchi and 13 other responsible officials apologized to the students and the public. Coach Zhou bowed in apology four times during the press conference and said, "I realize my mistake. I ask the students for forgiveness." The university has dismissed Coach Zhou and ordered all related research data to be destroyed.
Despite NTNU's response, various sectors in Taiwan continue to raise numerous suspicions and criticisms. One student revealed that, due to a lack of medical staff, Coach Zhou instructed senior students to draw blood from other students, which is a clear violation of medical law. Additionally, controversy has grown over the fact that the whereabouts of the collected blood samples remain unknown.
The Ministry of Education has imposed a fine of 1.1 million New Taiwan dollars (approximately 50 million won) on the university and ordered it to submit improvement measures within three months. Taiwanese prosecutors have also launched an investigation and plan to summon Coach Zhou as a suspect for questioning.
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