CPBL Abolishes '228 Foreign Player Clause', Sets Jan 15 as Final Negotiation Deadline

Central News Agency (Taipei, June 1) - The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) held a team leaders' meeting today and decided to abolish Article 96 of Chapter 17 of the CPBL regulations, commonly known as the '228 Foreign Player Clause.' To accommodate team operations, the final deadline for foreign players to negotiate with their original teams is set for January 15, after which they will be considered free agents. To avoid malicious poaching, Article 96 of Chapter 17, 'Regulations on Foreign Player Management,' previously stated that 'foreign players may not transfer teams within the same year, and for players registered at the deadline, the original team holds priority negotiation rights until the end of February of the following year.' This was known as the '228 Foreign Player Clause.' However, there were many instances where teams contacted foreign players from other teams before the deadline. Earlier this year, TSG Hawks manager Hong I-chung mentioned contact with David Buchanan, which caused dissatisfaction from the Fubon Guardians, who held priority negotiation rights at the time. Today's meeting resolved to abolish this clause. Commissioner Tsai Chi-chang stated that the issue had been identified previously, but the league lacked investigative power. The decision was made with the consensus of all teams. Tsai explained that considering year-end holidays abroad and the need for teams to have sufficient operational time, as well as avoiding conflicts with the KBO schedule, January 15 was set as the final deadline for negotiations.