Amid Asian Games vandalism, Sports Ministry urges sportsmanship and respect

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) The Ministry of Sports on Thursday called for mutual respect after a banner was vandalized at a training base for Taiwan's Asian Games athletes in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

The banner, displayed at Misono Elementary School in Nagoya, was defaced with ink, according to a Wednesday report by local news agency Chunichi News.

The 5-meter-long, 1.5-meter-wide banner bore the Chinese words "國家運動訓練中心" and the English name "TSTC Taiwan Sports Training Center."

A photo published by the agency showed that the Chinese characters "國家," meaning "country," and the English text had been smeared with ink.

The school is being used as a training base by Taiwan's national team for the Asian Games.

Citing investigators involved in the case, the report said the Nagoya City Board of Education, which oversees the facility, was notified of the vandalism Monday afternoon.

Authorities are investigating the incident as a case of vandalism.

The Taiwanese team has since removed the ink stains and replaced the banner with a new one, according to the report.

In a statement Thursday, Taiwan's Ministry of Sports thanked Japanese police for their prompt assistance and called on them to ensure the safety of Taiwan's athletes and staff members.

The ministry said the training base provides athletes with medical care and support so they can focus on competing in the Games. It added that it did not want unnecessary disturbances to interfere with operations there.

The ministry urged everyone to demonstrate their competitive spirit through their performance rather than engaging in conflicts off the field, saying such behavior was unnecessary and contrary to the spirit of sportsmanship.

It said it respected the national teams representing all participating countries and hoped everyone would show the same respect for one another.