Courtesy: FIFA.com

The football family Chang

(FIFA.com) 16 Nov 2004

The island of Chinese Taipei (area 36,000 km2, population 22.5 million) has yet to make a splash in world football, but it can still boast a number of impressive successes. The men's national side won the Asian Games in 1954 and 1958, while the women's team have gone one better, winning the same competition three times (1977, 1979, 1981). Chinese Taipei also took part in the 1960 Olympic Football Tournament in Rome, the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup in the People's Republic of China and the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Canada. Whereas the men's national team currently occupies 153rd place in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, the women's side ranks 24.

Baseball is the most popular sport on the island, but football is making steady ground. At present some 84,000 people regularly play football in Chinese Taipei, although just 500 male and 250 female players at the 50 clubs and 127 teams around the country are registered with the football association, which was formed in 1924 and has been a member of FIFA since 1954.

There is no professional football in Chinese Taipei. And until last year there was no futsal league either. A prime mover behind its formation was Chang Chan Wei, the general secretary of the Chinese Taipei Football Association. Along with association president Huang Shih Cheng and the rest of his colleagues on the board, Chang also committed himself to his country's bid to host the 5th FIFA Futsal World Championship.

All the hard work proved worthwhile, as this year's tournament is indeed being staged on the island. The two venues are the National Taiwan University New Gymnasium (5,000 seats) in the capital Taipei (2.7 million inhabitants) and the Linkou Gymnasium (15,000 seats) in Tao Yuan, a 45-minute drive from Taipei.

The event brings a lot of work for the relatively small Chinese Taipei Football Association. But general secretary Chang can count on the support of staff he could not know any better, as his three daughters, Chen Chen, Hsi Yuan and Hsi Izu, all work for the association. While his wife Shu Chuan is not directly involved in football - "She does cook for our football clan, though," says Chang with a smile - Chu Yu will also be doing his bit to make the FIFA Futsal World Championship 2004 an unforgettable experience.

The 21-year-old is the general secretary's son and plays in attack for the national team, which will be looking to survive the tournament's opening phase. But with three experienced opponents in Group A in the shape of Spain, Ukraine and Egypt, this will be a very difficult task for the host nation.