Taiwan's field of dreams a nightmare

The field at the Brother Elephants' spring training camp looked bigger this year.

As players from Taiwan's most popular professional baseball team donned their sunshine-yellow uniforms on a January day and lined up for batting practice in Longtan, about an hour outside of Taipei, it looked as if there was more grass to cover, more dirt to traverse.

The field, of course, had not changed: the Elephants had shrunk. The team roster was halved after they lost 23 members in a huge game-fixing scandal that broke in October. Last month prosecutors handed out indictments across Taiwan to 24 people, including members of underground gambling syndicates, a politician and players from three of the struggling pro league's four teams.

Prosecutors alleged that players worked with black market bookmakers to throw games, sometimes under threats of violence, or in exchange for cash bribes, boozy karaoke nights and paid-for sex, among other incentives.

Another 43 people, mainly baseball players, were either not charged or given suspended indictments due to insufficient evidence or co-operation with prosecutors. Investigations are continuing.

With a new season to begin on Saturday, Taiwan's national sport is in crisis. The latest fracas marks the fifth time in its 21-year history that the Chinese Professional Baseball League has been hit with game-fixing allegations.

This time is arguably the worst. Rosters are decimated, fans are disaffected, teams are eyeing lawsuits against individual players and the league is threatening to sue underground bookies for anticipated losses and damage to its reputation.