Another Bribery Scandal Hits Taiwan
Tsao Chin-hui pitched the seventh game of the championship series in Tawian and was the losing pitcher. Now he is being questioned about bribery charges. Chang Chi-chia and Tsao were alleged to collude with a member of the Four Seas Gang to throw games. It is difficult for Taiwan to drop more teams to control their gambling problems, though the owner of the Elephants has proposed that if any of his players have been found guilty of gambling. Six Elephant players have been implicated in the new gambling charges. You can read about it here: http://www.japanball.com/news.phtml?id=15846.
Other players identifeid are Hsieh Chia-hsien, Wang Chun-tai, Liu Yu-chan, Wang Jing-li, Wu Pao-hsien, Li Hao-ren. Telephone records show that the above named players had contact with the head of a criminal gang and his middlemen. Tsai and Chang claim they are innocent. Former Brothers Elephant player Chuang Yu-lin could cop a plea for leniency in his sentence by providing information that could incriminate those players. Another former player Huang Chun-chung also admitted to being a middleman for the players.
Many fans are complaining that the prosecuters who are pursuing the gambling charges are ruining baseball for Taiwan. That perspective seems a little warped. It is the players who are involved in the gambling or find themselves going out to dinner with known gamblers that are ruining baseball for Taiwan. Tsao has admitted having dinner with one of the heads of the criminal gangs. Tsao played baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies.
You can read more here: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/10/29/2003457154
More can also be read here: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/sports/baseball/2009/10/27/230225/p2/New-game.htm