By: Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
A day after the National Bureau of Investigation teamed up with the MPBL staff to solve the game-fixing issue in the league, the culprit behind the scheme was finally ascertained.
According to Senator Manny Pacquiao, it’s a Chinese syndicate group that runs the game-fixing activities within his league.
A team is given 20,000 pesos if they agree to participate and agree to the terms of the syndicate, and separate player and staff bonuses are given if the outcome is favorable to the syndicate’s side, according to the MPBL staff.
Players and coaches are forced and controlled to produce only a certain amount of points, affecting the performance and efficiency of the players and the coaches that were tied up with the syndicate.
The Soccsksargen Marlins have already been suspended, being found out that they were involved in the game-fixing transaction with the syndicate.
Further investigations of the MPBL and the NBI found out that three other teams are under the services of the Chinese group.
Pacquiao then issued a statement saying that these teams will be released within the following days and they will be banned not only in the MPBL but they will also issue a recommendation that these players, coaches, and staff will also be banned in all leagues nationally.
