TAIWAN – Brother Elephants owner Hung Jui-ho has agreed to a plan that would provide cash rewards for baseball fans in Taiwan who submit photographs of team players meeting with gang members and gambling syndicates.

The plan, aimed at making tens of thousands of Taiwanese baseball fans amateur paparazzi’s, is yet another attempt by officials of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) to stem the rampant game-fixing scandals that threatens the existence of the sport on the baseball-loving island nation.

22 players and one coach of the local professional baseball league have already been implicated in the latest scandal. Last year, two franchises – dmedia T-Rex and the Chinatrust Whales – were disbanded due to a match-fixing scandal that reduced the CPBL to just four teams.

One of the most prominent baseball stars in the league, La New Bears ace Chang Chih-chia, was released by the club recently after admitting to taking loans from an underground sports betting syndicate. The former Seibu Lions (Japan) hurler has repeatedly denied fixing games.

Photo courtesy of goldpanners.com

Tags: CPBL Update, Taiwan