Three players confess

Hung will decide on the Elephants' fate after he meets with Chao Shou-po, president of the CPBL next week when Chao returns home from an overseas visit.

Tai said the government will convene an inter-ministerial meeting next Tuesday to discuss issues regarding professional baseball's development.

“At the upcoming meeting, I will convey Hung's request that law enforcement authorities adopt preventive strategies to help resolve the gambling and game-fixing issues that have often cast a pall on our professional baseball development,” Tai said.

She added that criminal investigators and prosecutors should address the issues from a preventive perspective to avoid impeding the development of the pro game in Taiwan.

In case the Elephants' management eventually decides to disband the team, Tai said her council will help seek other corporations to sponsor a team in the league.

“Anyway, we will make every possible effort to keep the CPBL afloat,” Tai said.

Holding placards, some Elephants fans came out to gather outside the dormitory of players yesterday to show their strong support for the team and the players.

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.

President Ma Ying-jeou, who now doubles as chairman of the Kuomintang, admonished KMT members of upholding integrity and cleanness.

When addressing a gathering of the candidates for the ruling party's Central Standing Committee, Ma used the tremendous damage inflicted by the latest baseball scam to the careers of the players and to the sport in his advice.

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.

Players involved will also face increased penalties after the new rules clear the Legislative Yuan.

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