T1 LEAGUE player fired after admitting to betting on SBL games

Taipei, Oct. 24 (CNA) Taiwan Beer Leopards have fired shooting guard Lo Chen-feng (羅振峰) after Lo admitted betting on games in Taiwan's semi-professional Super Basketball League (SBL) last year, the T1 LEAGUE ballclub said Tuesday.

In a statement released by the club, the Leopards said Lo admitted his actions to the franchise on Monday evening, four days after all staffers were asked to sign an affidavit that anyone found to have broken related rules would be dismissed with immediate effect.

The Leopards reiterated that the franchise has "zero tolerance" for any actions that lack sportsmanship and apologized to the public for the negative impression Lo has caused.

Meanwhile, the T1 LEAGUE issued a statement that indicated it had been notified by the Leopards of the incident and criticized Lo for his behavior, urging all players in the league to learn from the case.

The league will hold a disciplinary committee meeting and investigate the matter, the T1 LEAGUE statement said.

Lo was selected by the Leopards in the first round of the 2021 summer draft and finished his rookie season with 10 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game over 12 games played.

That performance led the Leopards to sign him to a four-year contract worth NT$12 million (US$371,408), making him the highest-paid domestic player on the team.

Lo's deeds came to light one week after local media Mirror Media disclosed the alleged involvement in game fixing of SBL player Wu Chi-ying (吳季穎), who played for the Yulon Luxgen Dinos in the 2022-23 season and was under contract with Taiwan Beer's SBL team at the time.

Amid evidence leaked to the press there were screenshots of conversations discussing match-fixing between Wu and a T1 LEAGUE player referred to as L, which Mirror Media on Tuesday identified as Lo.

In addition, Mirror Media stressed that the exchange actually took place on April 28 this year, rather than "last year" as Lo claimed.

Wu was reportedly fired by the Dinos in June on suspicion of match-fixing and amid allegations he secretly sold two luxury watches belonging to late Yulon Group CEO Kenneth Yen (嚴凱泰).

He was released on NT$250,000 bail on Oct. 18 after being questioned by prosecutors and is now restricted from changing his residence as part of the bail arrangement.

On the same day, despite no formal ruling being made, the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association, which supervises basketball matters in Taiwan, announced a ban on all leagues in Taiwan signing Wu in the future.

Asked to comment on measures to be taken against Lo, the basketball association said that Lo was involved in gambling but not in game-fixing, and it will follow related regulations and rules in deciding whether to hold a disciplinary committee meeting as soon as possible.