Wen Wen, a cheerleader for the Taiwanese professional baseball team Chungshin Brothers, recently suffered a terrible incident where she was attacked with a weapon in the neck area by a male fan in his 50s at a private filming site. It was an urgent situation that could have resulted in greater casualties if there had not been a quick response and suppression by the officials at the scene at the time of the incident. The criminal swung a weapon as long as 9 cm long, and the scene turned into chaos, with three people nearby who were trying to stop him injured. Fortunately, Wonwon is recovering from emergency surgery, but this incident shocked the public in that it was not simply an accidental crime, but the result of the ‘sasaengfan’-like obsession that the perpetrator had developed by persistently following the victim for several years.

As a result of the police investigation, it was revealed that the criminal was someone who had invested a huge amount of time and money in following the victim's every move. Even after his arrest, he did not regret his mistakes, but rather showed a hostile attitude and aroused anger by claiming that the victim had made him like this. He even used irrational words and actions to rationalize his crime, such as blaming the event organizer for the crime, giving us an idea of ​​how seriously distorted his perception was. Sent to the prosecution on charges of attempted murder, he still continues to pass off his obsession as love and maintains an unreflective attitude, clearly revealing the dark side of our society's fandom culture.

As a result of this incident, major changes in the security system to ensure the safety of cheerleaders and athletes became inevitable. The club immediately strengthened its security personnel and established strong protection measures, including a complete ban on meeting on the way home from work or participating in private events, which had been the main channel of communication with fans. This suggests that the entire Taiwanese professional baseball community shares a sense of crisis that secondary damage can no longer be prevented with a safety management system that relies solely on individual passion. In particular, as the club in question also has many Korean cheerleaders, this incident is raising awareness of safety issues for our personnel working in other countries.

Meanwhile, in the political world, the word ‘cheerleader’ is used metaphorically and is at the center of controversy, and the symbolism of this profession is being consumed throughout our society. But at their core, cheerleaders are professional artists and workers who bring excitement to the sport, and their character and physical safety must take precedence over any other values. Fandom should be the entity that creates a healthy sports culture through cheering and support, but this incident served as a warning that the violence hidden behind the name ‘fan’ can threaten the lives of others at any time. Now is the time to establish a healthy public perspective on stars, accompanied by the establishment of a thorough safety net at the club level.