Taiwan Coach Forced Students to Donate Blood
A shocking incident has come to the fore at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) when a celebrated women's football coach was accused of forcing players to donate blood repeatedly in order to win academic credits to pass their graduation.
The accusations emerged after a student, whose last name was given as Jian, publicly accused 61-year-old Zhou Tai-ying, a well-known Taiwanese football personality, of coercing sportsmen to submit to repeated blood draws. The SCMP reported that Jian alleged students were informed their school performance was linked to taking part in blood donation campaigns.
Jian described her traumatic ordeal: "It was blood and sweat for credit. I was literally seething with anger! By the eighth day of successive blood draws, they could hardly find a vein in either arm. They even attempted to use my wrist and failed. It was agonizing. I totally lost it. It took them six attempts before they managed to do it!" She further posted a video of herself sobbing while going through one of the procedures.
Jian disclosed that she went through more than 200 blood draws during her stay at NTNT, as many as three per day, for 14 consecutive days from as early as 5 am to 9 pm. Refusal to undergo the same was said to have serious repercussions such as expulsion or being barred from graduation.
Another former student posted her trauma online, stating she had to take a leave of absence due to Zhou's constant bullying. "If my dad found out, he'd surely fight the coach," she wrote. "Forgiveness? Perhaps in the next life. My college years were meant to be happy and promising, but now, looking back, all I feel is disgust."
Further research showed that the blood withdrawals were done in the guise of on-campus research experiments performed by someone lacking medical training. SCMP reported that research stipends, which were to be paid out to student participants, were said to have been taken in by Zhou and used as 'team funds'.
When facing increasing backlash, NTNU sacked Zhou from her administrative and coaching jobs on July 13 and prohibited her from leading any team in the future. Initially, the university published a handwritten apology letter by Zhou, in which she stated: "I sincerely apologise for the harm caused to the students involved, to the faculty, and the university's reputation. I deeply regret the emotional distress caused to the students and want to say sorry to all of you."
Yet, both the public apology and the university's statement were subsequently deleted from its social media platforms. The specific reasons for the coerced blood donations and how Zhou might have benefited personally are still uncertain.
Local education authorities have since imposed an administrative sanction on NTNU, calling on the university to take corrective action and to ensure closer supervision in the future.
