The Elephants' general manager may dissolve the franchise after at least four of its players have confessed to prosecutors their involvement in the recent game-fixing case.

Fans of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) from around the country gathered at the Taipei MRT Nanjing E. Rd. Station and headed toward the SAC.

With some dressed in baseball uniforms, they shouted slogans such as "let baseball keep rolling forward" and sang songs in the square outside the SAC to show their eagerness to keep the CPBL afloat.

One of them, Chang Chi-kai, an employee at a civil aviation company in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, has been a baseball fan for 20 years and even proposed to his then-girlfriend at a baseball stadium in 2005, and he said he still hopes to go to the stadium to watch baseball games with his daughter in the future.

Some fans also expressed their views on stemming the influence of gangsters in the sport and establishing a free agent system.

In response to their calls, SAC official Wu Chun-che said that SAC Minister Tai Hsia-ling has proposed three measures that will be posted on the SAC's Web site Nov. 3.

The measures include enhancing inter-governmental agency cooperation, strengthening anti-gambling provisions in laws governing Taiwan's sports lottery, and reinforcing baseball players' moral education.

Tai reportedly said the government will convene an interministerial meeting Nov. 3 to discuss issues regarding professional baseball development.

In addition, some fans initiated a signature campaign promoting a clean environment for baseball development, which received the support of Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin.

While signing the petition, Hau said that as a long-time baseball fan he did not want to see the Elephants disband and believed that the government should step in to help handle the problem to prevent the national pastime from being influenced by gambling syndicates.

The Taipei mayor also said his government will help retired baseball players find jobs as coaches to better protect their livelihoods.

(By Chris Liu and Y.L. Kao)