Three baseball stars have been suspended and fined by their clubs, and punished by the CPBL for playing poker.
The three players — Fubon Guardians pitcher Tseng Chun-yueh (曾峻岳), and Wei Chuan Dragons outfielder Kuo Tien-hsin (郭天信) and infielder Chang Cheng-yu (張政禹) — would each be suspended for seven games and be fined NT$70,000, the CPBL said in a statement yesterday.
Tseng, the Guardians’ best relief pitcher, on Tuesday had 50 percent of his wages docked for three months, or a total of NT$480,000, and he was downgraded to the farm team for an unspecified period, the Guardians said.
Photo: Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei Times
On Tuesday, regular starters Kuo and Chang were suspended for five games, had one month of pay docked — NT$350,000 for Kuo, and NT$170,000 for Chang — and were downgraded to the farm team, the Dragons said.
Photographs that have been circulating online over the past few days show Kuo and Chang separately sitting at card tables at a venue in Taipei, and Tseng taking a smoke break outside a venue in Taichung.
Both venues are reportedly affiliated with the Taiwan Formosa Poker Sports Association (TFPSA), and the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association.
Club officials said they had questioned the players, citing them as saying they were at the venues and played poker, but the photos were from last year, and they had not visited these venues this year.
The TFPSA and venue proprietors criticized the CPBL and clubs for punishing the players, saying they have endeavored to promote poker as a sport, and are legally registered and have the approval of the government and the Sports Administration.
Playing poker has nothing to do with gambling, as people bet with chips, and according to the law, it is only considered gambling if money exchanges hands, they said.
“The players participated in government-approved poker tournaments in the form of a sporting competition, and were at legally registered gaming hall venues, but they were treated unfairly by their clubs and unfairly tarnished by media reports saying they were at ‘premises of disrepute,’” the association said in a statement.
The punishments infringe on the baseball players’ right to work, denied fans their right to see their favorite players in action, it said.
Some Taiwanese have done well at major international poker tournaments, it added.
Some poker players “have done Taiwan proud, putting Taiwan on the world stage... People must not violate the right of players and Taiwanese to take part in poker competitions,” it said.
Quite a few global sports superstars have openly participated in and promoted poker competitions, including soccer stars Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, and tennis legend Rafael Nadal, it said.
The Criminal Code prohibits gambling in a place open to the public in Taiwan. Online gambling is also banned.
The CPBL said that strict regulations must apply to its players and people working for the league, as they cannot associate with criminals and the proprietors of betting and gambling venues.
Taiwanese pro baseball had experienced “dark periods,” when several franchises folded due to game-fixing scandals in the 1990s and 2000s, which nearly killed off the CPBL and pro baseball development in Taiwan, the league said.
“Therefore, we need to apply the highest standards, and always remind players not to engage in illegal activities or visit ‘premises of disrepute,’” the CPBL said. “Each club has their own rules to identify these premises, and we support the clubs’ choice to impose punishments when their rules have been broken.”
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