The 2009 Match-fixing Incident in Taiwan’s Professional Baseball League

The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) was the first professional sports league ever created in Taiwan, but has been plagued by a series of match-fixing scandals starting from 1996. However, the 2009 scandal happened to the most popular club, Brother Elephants. The corrupt “Windshield Wiper” ring was the mastermind behind whole affair. Twenty-six former and active players and coaches were involved that put the games’ ethics and integrity in jeopardy. In particular, star players such as Cao Jinhui and Chen Zhiyuan were banished from baseball forever, which certainly shocked the public. Accordingly, the CPBL was again on the verge of disbandment. Facing such a crisis, fans organized a street protest and spontaneously demanded that the government take actions against such an adverse environment. Subsequently, the authorities stipulated several plans in order to revive the “national sport” people used to love.