A football coach at a top Taiwanese university has been accused by students of forcing them to donate blood in exchange for academic credits. The scandal has led to a row, with people taking to social media to slam the women's team coach for her bizarre actions, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.
The incident came to light when a student, surnamed Jian, came out in public to level the accusations. Jian, studying at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), said the students had been coerced by their coach, Zhou Tai-ying, a well-known figure on the circuit.
Jian claimed that the blood donations were linked to the 32 academic credits required for graduation. During her time at the university, she underwent more than 200 blood donations in exchange for course credits.
"Sometimes this involved continuous sampling for up to 14 days, on occasion three times a day, from 5 am to 9 pm," the report highlighted.
The blood was drawn by untrained personnel claiming to use it for "on-campus research experiments".
"It was truly blood and sweat for credit. I was practically boiling with rage! By the eighth consecutive day of blood draws, they could barely find a vein in either arm," said Jian.
"They even tried my wrist and failed. It was excruciating. I completely broke down. It took six tries before they finally succeeded!" Jian wrote in a post, also sharing a video of herself sobbing during the procedure.
Another unnamed student revealed that Zhou bullied them. She added that she did not tell her parents about it as it would have upset them.
“If my dad knew, he'd definitely go fight the coach. I just did not want them to be upset,” the student said.
As the controversy snowballed, the university announced on July 13 that Zhou had been dismissed and barred from leading any sports teams.
"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," Zhou wrote in a letter of apology.
However, the announcement and the letter were later removed from the university's social media page. The local education authorities have issued an administrative penalty to NTNU, while social media users have demanded action against the "vampire" coach.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
