The government yesterday set the goal of helping the national baseball team advance to the semi-finals of the next World Baseball Classic as it approved a four-year proposal to boost the sport.
Under the proposal, each of the four teams in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) will be subsidized NT$10 million (US$300,000) per year by the government to set up lower league teams that play at least 60 games in a regular season.
The government will also help establish an amateur baseball league, lifting the number of amateur teams from two — Taiwan Power Co (台電) and Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) — to 12.
Government Information Office Minister Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said nine more amateur teams would be formed by Taipei City Government, Taipei County Government, Taoyuan County Government, Taichung City Government, Kaohsiung City Government, Taitung County Government, Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corp (台酒公司), China Steel Corp (中鋼) and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信).
Each of the amateur teams will also be subsidized NT$10 million per year, Su said.
The government will also sponsor colleagues and high schools NT$10 million each to hold competitions every year to cultivate athletic skills, the proposal said.
Su said the government would also seek amendments to the related laws and regulations to thoroughly resolve the problem of gambling and match fixing.
The proposal will cost the government NT$1.26 billion over four years, Su said.
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