The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday it has obtained surveillance footage of Australian Canberra Cavalry catcher Matt Blazynski entering and leaving a hotel in Greater Taichung where he stayed during the Asia Series professional baseball tournament.
However, prosecutors refused to comment on reports that he allegedly took a young woman to the hotel.
Australia’s Canberra Times on Saturday reported that Blazynski alleged he was approached at a bar in Greater Taichung on the eve of the Asia Series semi-final against the Samsung Lions of South Korea and was offered US$30,000 to convince his teammates to throw the Nov. 17 semi-final.
The office yesterday said investigators have obtained surveillance footage from the hotel, a nightclub and Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium between Nov. 17 and Nov. 18, adding that investigators were busy reviewing the footage.
The office added that according to footage, Blazynski left the hotel at 7pm on Nov. 17 and returned to the hotel at 4am on Nov.18.
The nightclub surveillance did not work on Nov. 17 or Nov. 18, the office said, but added that prosecutors have asked the Greater Taichung Police Department to recover the empty footage.
Local media reported that investigators discovered that Blazynski returned to the hotel with a young woman at 4am on Nov. 18, alleging that they arrived in a luxury car and that Blazynski held the woman as they walked into the hotel.
The driver left the car and watched the two entering the hotel safely, local media reported, adding that investigators suspected there were people using the woman to entice Blazynski to fix the game.
Blazynski was quoted by the Canberra Times as saying that he refused the offer and informed the police. Cavalry beat the Samsung Lions 9-5 in extra innings to advance to the final against Taiwan’s Uni-President Lions, which they won 14-4.
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