Taipei, Jan. 11 (CNA) Former Taiwan professional baseball most valuable player and Brother Elephants star hitter Chen Chih-yuan denied Monday media reports that he was involved in a game-fixing scandal that has pulled Taiwan's national pastime even further into disrepute.
Chen, 33, told a press conference that he neither threw games nor took money from bookmakers, adding that he had also never dined or met with Tsai Cheng-yi, a bookie nicknamed "Windshield Wiper, " the central figure in the league-wide scandal.
The nine-year veteran of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) showed up at the Elephants' spring training site at Lungtang in Taoyuan County for a live press conference after missing the first week of training.
"I have been having mixed feelings... All I want to do is attend spring training and be back with the team as soon as possible, " Chen said, adding that the false allegation was unfair to his family.
Tsai Rui-lin, the attorney of the CPBL Players' Association who accompanied Chen to the press conference, urged the media not to make "premature reports." Tsai noted that Chen was not even under investigation and that prosecutors had no plans to interview him.
Chen, who won CPBL Rookie of the Year in 2001 and Taiwan Series MVP in 2003, is one of the most popular players in the league.
Nineteen former and active Brother Elephants players, as well as former manager Nakagomi Shin, have been charged with game-fixing in a far-reaching scandal that permeates throughout the entire league and has left the whole of professional baseball in Taiwan in jeopardy.
Those charged include Tsao Chin-hui, Brother's ace pitcher who became the first Taiwanese pitcher in the U.S. Major League in 2002, and former Brother infielder Tsai Feng-an.
On Jan. 6, Brother's starting pitcher Liao Yu-cheng admitted taking a NT$600,000 bribe from bookmakers but denied fixing games.
Over 40 active and former players and coaches in the league have so far been implicated in the case.
Game-fixing in Taiwanese professional baseball can be traced as far back as 1995 and the present investigation is the fourth investigation launched by prosecutors since 2005.