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President, Chinese Taipei Football Association：Chiou I-Jen
The year 2006 has so far been a very busy one for our association, both on the domestic and international front. We have already sent out teams of all ages (men and women) to participate in 12 international competitions, and there will be six more from July until the end of the year. The big international events this year are the Asian Cup Competitions for men and also for women. The men's team has already lost their first two games to Iran and Syria. Their next game will be on August 16th at home against Korea, which will also be a tough game. The women's team qualified successfully in 2005 for the Asian Cup finals, which will be held in July this year in Australia. The team will be hoping for a top four finish and a place in the Women's World Cup Finals in China next year. The present Women's National Team is comprised mainly of college and high-school students and shows great promise for the future, recently performing quite well in an invitational tournament in Korea and coming second in the Asean Football Federation Women's Championship in Vietnam. The coach of this team is the legendary Ms. Chou Tai-Ying, who once played on the Taiwan “Mulan” Women's Team when they won three consecutive Asian Championships in the late 70's and early 80's. The Men's National Team is now under the leadership of Coach Imai Toshiaki from Japan, who was once head coach of Kawasaki Frontale. The team has already played two Asian Cup games this year, losing to Iran away and Syria at home. In the AFC Challenge Cup in April this year in Bangladesh, the team qualified successfully for the quarter-finals, where they were unfortunately eliminated by Sri Lanka 3-0. On the domestic front, the inaugural Fubon Taiwan League will start up on June 9th. The four participating teams are Tatung, Taiwan Power Company, China Steel (National Olympic Team), and Fubon Financial (Army Team). They will play a total of 18 games over three rounds in Kaohsiung, Tainan and Taipei from June 9th to July 15th.

Established in 1936, the Chinese Taipei Football Association has a long history. Back in the 1950s, Chinese Taipei was crowned champion of Asia in the Asian Games for two consecutive tournaments, in 1954 and 1958. Their so-called golden age continued into the 1960s, where they captured third place in the 1960 Asia Cup and fourth in 1968. As other Asian countries promoted a professional league and started to improve dramatically, Chinese Taipei retained their amateur status. Compared with other overwhelmingly popular sports like baseball and basketball, football did not receive so much public attention; thus, developing a professional league was out of the question. At one point, Chinese Taipei attached itself to the Oceania Football Confederation, and the glory that once was became something of the past. In 1989, they were re-instated to the Asian Football Confederation and started anew. Although interest in football is not so great, women's football enjoys a strong following and futsal is also popular among students who find it easier to play. The Chinese Taipei FA has placed emphasis in developing these two areas as an opportunity to promote football in Chinese Taipei. In November, 2004, they hosted the FIFA Futsal World Championship and their excellent organizational skills were recognized worldwide. The support toward football in Chinese Taipei is following a gentle upward curve.