Ma vows to free players from interference

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.

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