Following a whole day of interviews by agents of the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau (MJIB) and prosecutors in Banqiao of Taipei County, eight of the nine players were named as defendants in the latest scam of playing false baseball games.

Tsai Chung-you of the La New Bears was named a witness in the ongoing probe.

Wu and Wang came under review of the district court for detention at the request of the prosecutors, who said evidence gathered so far shows the duo have allegedly been deeply involved in the scandal. But the investigators declined to reveal details because there could be some others involved but have not yet been questioned.

Sources said the two could have served as intermediaries with active players to get them to fix games for a gambling ring run by underground bookmaker Tsai Cheng-yi.

The other six players of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) named as defendants were prominent Brother Elephants pitchers Tsao Chin-hui, Liu Yu-chan, and Li Hao-jen, catcher Wang Chun-tai, plus outfielder and power hitter Hsieh Chia-hsien of the Sinon Bulls, and pitcher Chang Chia-chih of the La New Bears.

They were all accompanied by lawyers retained by their teams for the investigative interviews.

Tsao was the first Taiwanese player to join the U.S. Major Leagues when he was aged only 18, ten years ago. He played for the Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Tsao admitted that he had met gambling bookie Tsai several times over meals, but vehemently denied that he had taken bribes or thrown games. Friends close to Tsao said he was approached and offered money by gambling syndicates when still a player in the youth baseball league. But Tsao always honestly reported the approaches to his coaches, said the friends.

Chang of the La New Bears was formerly recruited by Japan's Seibu Lions.

Tsai Chung-you, an outfielder of La New Bears, was questioned as a witness, probably for his cooperation with the probe, according to investigative sources.

The defendants were accused of accepting cash payments to either throw games or manipulate the score in at least nine regular season games between May and September, according to evidence obtained by the prosecutors.

Citing the sources, local media reports claimed that starting pitchers were paid NT$3 million and relievers NT$500,000 to cooperate in the scheme, which allegedly earned Tsai and the others over NT$100 million.

The players still claim their innocence while prosecutors said the investigation is still far from over. The prosecutors have not ruled out the possibility of interviewing managers and coaches of the teams in an expanded probe.

There were as many as 30 suspects being closely monitored by investigators in the fifth major scam in Taiwan's pro baseball, according to the sources. CPBL officials and managers of the baseball teams complained that this latest large-scale investigation could sound the death knell for the sport here.

But reflecting the disappointment and grave concern of baseball fans over the successive game-fixing scandals in the past two decades in the nation's pro baseball history, Premier Wu Deng-yih said a thorough investigation should be carried out.

Justice Minister Wang Ching-feng said yesterday the probe is not intended to inflict harm to the sport of baseball, but to seek out the black sheep that hurt the sport¡¦s reputation in order to give a clean and decent environment to the fans.