CITIC Brothers issued a solemn statement to denounce malicious attacks and match-fixing insinuations

Yue Donghua made a defensive error. (File photo, taken by reporter Tu Jianrong)

[Reporter Luo Zhipeng/Report from Taoyuan] Yesterday, CITIC Brothers suffered a comeback from Lotte Peach when they visited Taoyuan Stadium. The brothers' second baseman Yue Donghua made a mistake in the eighth inning, which indirectly caused the situation to turn around. After the game, some netizens left messages to maliciously attack Yue Donghua and even insinuated that he engaged in match-fixing. Today, CITIC Brothers issued a statement to set the record straight.

The statement from CITIC Brothers is as follows:

CITIC Brothers Football Club would like to express its solemn position in response to comments on social platforms that maliciously attack our players and even insinuate illegal activities.

The team respects fans’ comments and supervision of the team’s performance, and also understands fans’ expectations and emotions regarding the outcome of the game. However, certain social accounts continue to make inappropriate remarks in the form of photos of players, malicious curses, and personal attacks. Now there are major accusations insinuating that players are involved in "match-fixing." Related behaviors have seriously exceeded the boundaries of rational comments. Regarding the long-term inappropriate remarks and behaviors of specific accounts, the team will continue to collect relevant evidence and take necessary actions to safeguard the rights and interests of players and the reputation of the team.

The "match-fixing" accusation involves the most fundamental competitive integrity of professional baseball, and is also related to the personal reputation of the players and the overall professional baseball environment. Any accusations and malicious insinuations that lack concrete evidence may not only cause harm to players and their families, but may also damage the long-term trust between teams and professional baseball.

CITIC Brothers has always been committed to maintaining a fair and healthy professional baseball environment and will continue to protect every player who is seriously involved in the game. We once again appeal that rational comments should not become an excuse for malicious attacks, and freedom of speech does not mean that you can harm others without any boundaries.

We humbly accept criticism and supervision from fans; however, CITIC Brothers will never tolerate malicious curses, personal attacks, or any behavior that intentionally harms players and damages the professional baseball environment.