In order to increase the care of outstanding athletes, at the 899^st Ministry Affairs Meeting on July 6^th, 2022 the Ministry of Education reviewed and approved “the Regulations Governing Commercial Endorsements by Civil Service Personnel of the Ministry of Education, its Subordinate Institutions (Agencies) and National Educational Institutions who were Formerly Athletes in National Teams” drawn up by the Sports Administration, providing a basis for commercial endorsement by outstanding athletes. From now on, more national team athletes will have the opportunity to give commercial endorsements like Tokyo Olympics men’s badminton gold medal winner Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin, making athlete career development more complete.

In May this year, the Sports Administration surveyed Ministry of Education, its subordinate Institutions and national educational institutions, including civil servants, university presidents who took up office in 2021, and concurrent administrative teachers and staff. At present, there are 119 civil servants who are former national team members, In future, they can accept commercial endorsement on the basis of the Regulations.

The Sports Administration emphasized that to coordinate with the announcement of amended National Sports Act that added Items 3 to Article 22 stipulating that former national team athletes who have civil servant identity can accept commercial endorsements with the agreement of their employing institution (agency) and that rules on related matters such as scope, restrictions and procedure should be set by the competent authority on January 19, 2022, the legislative process for the Regulations Governing Commercial Endorsements was quickly launched and consultation meetings held with the Regulatory Committee, operations coordination meeting and the Ministry of Education Regulatory Committee Meeting.

Later, in coordination with the amendment of the Civil Servant Work Act announced on June 22, taking into account that national team athletes have a career of limited length, if they are civil servants, allowing them to give commercial endorsements with the approval of their service unit will benefit their career development and promote the vibrant development of the sports industry and also encourage athletes to seek glory for Taiwan. The Regulations Governing Commercial Endorsements were approved yesterday. The key points are explained below:

1. Commercial endorsement subjects: for people who are civil servants and former national team athletes, Paragraph 2, Article 2 of the Regulations defines civil servant identity and personnel to which the Civil Servant Work Act applies; the subjects include current employees of the Ministry of Education, its subordinate institutions (agencies) and national educational institutions, concurrent administrative post presidents and teachers of national universities and personnel employed under the Regulations for Contract-Based Employees and Regulations on Contracted Employment of the Executive Yuan and Its Subordinate Agencies.
2. The definition of commercial endorsement: under the Civil Servant Work Act, endorsement is in the scope of Article 15 of the Act. Also, according to Examination Yuan policy, civil servants must not engage in endorsement behavior. However, Paragraph 3 of Article 22 of the National Sports Act stipulates that commercial endorsements by athletes who are civil servants are not subject to the restrictions on business operation and part-time work of the Act, with authorization of related matter set by the competent authority of the institution they work for; it was, therefore, necessary to define commercial endorsement. Therefore, Sub-Paragraph 3 of Article 2 of the Regulations define commercial endorsement as accepting the invitation of a juristic person, company or group to appear in a commercial advertisement, promotion or public event with or without compensation.
3. Scope and limitations of commercial endorsement: Three circumstances under which agreement should not be given by the institution they work at for commercial endorsement by personnel of the Ministry of Education, its subordinate institutions (Agencies) and national educational institutions are stipulated with reference to Paragraph 7 of Article 15 of the Civil Servant Work Act, Article 7 of the Guidelines for Academia-Industry Cooperation for Schools Above Junior College Level, Paragraph 5 of Article 21 of the Fair Trading Act and Article 15 of the Regulations Concerning Audition, Training and Registration of Sports Coaches and Athletes for National Representative Team of International Games to set the scope and restrictions of commercial endorsement.

The Sports Administration stated that Taiwan’s outstanding athletes have performed better and better in internationals sports events in recent years, greatly raising our sports profile internationally and letting the world see Taiwan’s sports power. In future, the government will continue to refine the care policy for outstanding athletes and provide a more complete career development environment for more excellent athletes.