The following year the Far East Region was created, with the Japanese champion receiving an automatic berth in the World Series.

A representative of the Taiwanese Baseball Association also read between the lines, "We are suffering from a strange phenomenon, we are too good.

"There was too much emphasis on this particular age group, and this happened in Latin America, as well as the Far East and other places in which it became a more Olympic type activity.

This would give the U.S. a 50/50 chance of winning the championship every year, but it also made the road easier for the Far East and Latin America teams.

The championship game, against Long Beach, California, was a blowout, with Zamboanga City winning, 15-4, after a 7-run first inning.

A few days after Zamboanga City's triumphant victory, however, journalist Al Mendoza of the Philippine Daily Inquirer began publishing stories suggesting that some players were ineligible.

Local administrator Armando Andaya was faxed four questions from Little League president Creighton Hale, regarding player ages, birth certificates, residence, and a specific question regarding winning championship game pitcher Ian Tolentino's participation in a tournament in 1990 (possibly with the view of suggesting this would have made him over-age).

Andaya claimed that the eight players replaced, for various reasons, were unable to go to China for the Far East series and that the out-of-district substitutes were only used to make up numbers rather than to give the team an extra edge over their opponents.

The exposed players and parents remained defiant, and accused Little League Baseball of denying them due process.

[11] With many Filipinos outraged at what they saw as an unpatriotic betrayal by Mendoza, who was given the key to the city of Long Beach, fellow Inquirer journalist Armand N. Nocum conducted further investigation[12] and found that even the six true Zamboangueños were over-age, including at least two as old as 15,[13] and thus ineligible.

[12] Nocum, a native of the area, had not wanted to believe such an egregious fraud was taking place, but discovered that even school officials were in on the cover-up.

[10] In an interesting post-script, Zamboanga City was disqualified from the Filipino national titles the very next year in another over-age player scandal.

[14] Following the Zamboanga City scandal, Little League announced that they would be enforcing boundary and age limits more strictly.