Taiwan goes mad about getting into the World Cup

Australia Donates One Hundred Footballs in Recognition of
MOE's Program to Promote Football

Just as the whole world was going crazy about the World Cup being held in Germany , the government proved that its attention to the sport was not just a slogan, but substantive actions aimed at furthering the sport. In order to promote football, increase the number of people playing football, raise the level of football skills, and bolster national athletic ability, MOE has drawn up plans to promote the sport in schools of all levels so as to achieve the goals of 'playing football in primary schools', 'learning football in junior high schools', 'practicing football in senior high schools' and 'loving football in colleges'. In addition to participation by government offices and schools of different levels, implementation of the program requires support from those who are enthusiastic about the sport, enterprises, and private-sector organizations.

The Australian Commerce and Industry Office - the Australian government office which has been established in Taiwan for 25 years, agrees with MOE's support in the promotion of football, which is the same as Australia's policy of promoting physical education early on in childhood. With MOE's assistance, ACIO Deputy Representative Harry Genn, gave a press conference on the donation of 100 footballs to the football teams of primary schools located in remote areas at MOE's Central Unified Office Building on June 26.

MOE Political Deputy Minister Lu Mu-lin, Minister Chen Chuan, Chairman of the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and Minister Walis Pelin of the Council of Indigenous Peoples attended the donation ceremony on June 26. They thanked ACIO for holding the event and injecting athletic resources into primary schools in remote areas.

At the ceremony, Deputy Minister Lu noted that he hoped the event would encourage public and business enterprises to contribute resources towards the development of Taiwan's physical education. He also hoped to enhance exchanges on physical education between the two countries by learning from Australia's experience in the promotion of various athletic events. He hoped that in the not too distant future, Taiwan's football team could gain a position in the World Cup.

School football teams who received donated footballs included those of schools such as Taoyuan County's Qiao'ai Primary School, Yilan County's Aohua Primary School , and Wuta Primary School . These football teams were all present at the press conference and they performed a football dance and demonstrated some of their football skills. Qiao'ai Primary School's football team was the champion of this year's FUSTAL and the majority of the team members are of indigenous ethnicity.

Famed for its outstanding performance in sport, Australia was the host country of the 2000 Olympic Games. In addition, it successfully held the Commonwealth Games in March this year. Australia has over 13 million people who actively participate in sports. After being absent from the World Cup for 32 years, Australia returned to the world football arena again this year and defeated Japan . For the first time in World Cup history, Australia came out one of the top 32 teams, demonstrating the Australian team's spirit of "never giving up.

The experience and methods Australia has in terms of physical education development are extremely useful for Taiwan . We hope that this event was successful in building a bridge of exchange between Taiwan and Australia in terms of physical education development.