Sponsorship deals flowed in like a river for Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin after they became Olympic champions.
Brands and businesses in Chinese Taipei swooped in to have their names marketed by the recently crowned Olympic champions. However, there might be some legal issues for Lee and Wang while accepting these sponsorship deals.
Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin are technically employees of the Land Bank of Taiwan, which is a fully state-owned public sector bank, which makes them civil servants of the state.
In Chinese Taipei, civil servants are legally not allowed to do commercial endorsements under the Civil Servants Service Law.
Lee and Wang did an endorsement for EasyCard Corporation, which sells contactless smart cards which can be used to make payments for various means of transportation in Chinese Taipei. The endorsement attracted attention as both EasyCard Corporation and the Land Bank of Taiwan compete in the banking sector.
Many websites reported that senior executives of the Land Bank of Taiwan were unaware of Lee and Wang’s deal with EasyCard Corporation until they saw it in the newspapers.
The Ministry of Finance has stated that it will help the players figure out their sponsorship deals.
Tai Tzu Ying is sponsored by McDonald’s, Red Bull, etc. Why is she not in trouble?
Tai Tzu Ying is an employee of the Taiwan Cooperative Bank, which is only partly owned by the state and is primarily a private bank.
As such, Tai Tzu Ying does not face any similar troubles while endorsing brands and companies.
