Ma said the recent game-fixing allegations didn't indicate a problem with professional baseball itself, which was actually victimized. As baseball is Taiwan's national game, the government will grant full support to promote the development of the professional baseball, Ma continued.

The president also called for all the baseball players to be honest. “The games are important, so is the integrity of the athletes,” Ma said, “because once players are involved in gambling schemes, then they would never be allowed to return to the playground,” Ma continued.

Echoing Ma's remarks, Premier Wu Den-yih said at the opening session of the 2009 National Sports Conference that those who have raked in windfall profits by masterminding the game-fixing schemes behind the scenes should be brought to justice, otherwise, the game-throwing scandal won't be thoroughly eradicated. Wu continued that the government will move to work out a set of concrete measures aimed at bolstering the nation's professional baseball.

The remarks of Ma and Wu are expected to soothe the discontent of Brother Elephants general manager Hung Rei-ho. Twelve Elephants players have been implicated in game-fixing allegations recently, and some have confessed to accepting money to throw games. Threatening to disband the team, Hung said Friday that he expected both the government and investigators to adjust their attitudes toward professional baseball.

In a Friday meeting with Minister Tai Hsia-ling of the Sports Affairs Council, Hung stressed that “baseball teams do not have the authority to deal with gambling syndicates. We have dealt with problem players as soon as we find out about them, but the problem of gambling syndicates needs to be tackled by the government.”

Meanwhile, Tai also told a gathering of over 200 domestic representatives at the National Sports Conference held at the Taipei International Convention Center that despite the undesirable game-fixing scandal, the government will cease its plan to revitalize the baseball games, and will, instead, keep the baseball rolling on in Taiwan.

Tai said the Cabinet has approved a budget of NT$250 million to finance the baseball revitalization plan. She continued that although Brother Elephants general manager Hung Rei-ho said there are still many issues that should be taken into consideration, she hoped that the Brother Elephants would remain active on the professional baseball playground.

Also yesterday, Chao Shou-po, president of Taiwan's professional baseball league, told a Central News Agency correspondent in Kuala Lumpur that he will try to convince general manger Hung Rei-ho of Brother Elephants not to disband his team for the sake of supporting the baseball's future development.

Hung is considering disbanding the team — one of only four in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) — after 12 of his players have been implicated in colluding with gambling syndicates to throw games in the recently concluded CPBL regular season. Four have reportedly confessed to accepting money in exchange for throwing games, and had turned in their illegal payment as evidence, including Elephants pitchers Li Hao-jen and Wu Bao-hsien, as well as outfielder Chu Hung-shen, all already fired by Brother Elephants.

As one of the two teams that have been in the league since it was founded 20 years ago and the franchise with the strongest fan base, the Elephants' disappearance could spell the demise of the CPBL, Chao acknowledged.

But Chao, who was speaking publicly for the first time since the scandal erupted, believed the Brother Elephants could still be salvaged. Chao suggested that fans would recover their confidence in the Elephants if they added good players with integrity, comparing the challenge to companies restoring their images after suffering serious debacles.

The CPBL president also criticized prosecutors for their handling of the case, arguing that they had violated the principle of confidentiality during the investigation. He accused them of leaking information that “destroyed players' lives and sacrificing the reputation of the league and the teams.”

The fate of the Elephants, presently Taiwan's most popular professional baseball team, will become clear next week. It is expected that Hung would decide on the Elephants' fate after he meets with Chao Shou-po, president of the CPBL next week when Chao returns home from a trip to Malaysia.

Hung vowed last year during a similar game-fixing scandal to disband his team if any of his players were involved in gambling and game fixing, but he now seems to be having second thoughts. He was quoted by a local newspaper as saying that despite his pain over his players' betrayal of his trust, he could not ignore his team's social responsibility.

Lawmakers of both the KMT and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party promised to accelerate the review and legislation of new rules for heavier penalties, including a maximum sentence of 15 years plus hefty fines for those convicted for manipulating athletic games for illegal financial gains.

After one week of intensive interrogations of the Elephants, prosecutors are reportedly switching their probe to interrogations of players of another two professional baseball teams, namely La New Bears and Hsing Nung Bulls, as quite a few players have been allegedly involved in game-throwing schemes.

In fact, La New's pitcher Chang Chih-chia and Hsing Nung player Hsieh China-hsien were already questioned by prosecutors on Oct. 28, and were listed as defendants after the interrogation. Although they were freed, prosecutors have already grasped more details concerning game-fixing scandals committed by players of the two teams.