TAIWAN – The slow demise of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) continued on Tuesday as

Chinatrust Whales Team Executives Hold Press Conference To Announce Their Decision To Disband CPBL Franchise.

the Chinatrust Whales disbanded after 12 years due to persistent rumors that some of its players were involved in game-fixing.

The CPBL, which expelled the dmedia T-Rex last month for involvement in gambling, will play the 2009 season with only four teams.

In 2003, Su Li-wei was implicated and the big news last year was the suspension and/or termination of five starters from the Whales who were suspected of being involved in fixing games. The list included big names like team captain Han-Chou Tseng, Chun-Lin Chi, and star shortstop Chang-Ming Cheng.

The Whales came under suspicion when the scandal hit the dmedia T-Rex franchise after evidence indicated team players and officials conspired with underground syndicates to fix games. And, after investigations by the Whales’ management confirmed allegations that some of their players were involved in fixing games, management decided to withdraw from the CPBL and disband the team.

The CPBL has been fighting incidents of game-fixing in six of the past seven years.

Source: Taipei Times, Taiwan Baseball

Tags: Taiwan