In his first public comments on the scandal which erupted
last week and led to the firing of his long-time friend and translator Ippei
Mizuhara, Ohtani emphasised he had been the victim of a theft and that he had
no knowledge of Mizuhara’s gambling problems before last week.
“I never bet on baseball or any other sports and I never
have asked somebody to do that on my behalf and I have never went through a
bookmaker to bet on sports,” Japanese ace Ohtani said through a translator.
Ohtani, the biggest star in baseball, joined the Dodgers
last December in a record-breaking $700 million deal.
He said an interview Mizuhara gave to ESPN last Tuesday
before the scandal broke, in which his translator said the star had knowingly
wired money to a California bookmaker to pay off the interpreter’s gambling
debts, was “a complete lie.”
“Obviously I never agreed to pay off this debt or make
payments to the bookmakers,” the 29-year-old told reporters at Dodger Stadium.
“All of this has been a complete lie… Until a couple of days
ago I didn’t know this was happening… Ippei has stolen money from my account
and told lies.
“I’m very saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted
has done this,” Ohtani said of the allegations.
Ohtani, who appeared calm and composed throughout his
remarks, did not take questions from reporters and did not immediately explain
how Mizuhara had been able to access his bank account to steal the reported
$4.5 million.
With Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and team president Andrew
Friedman looking on, Ohtani said the first time he became aware of Mizuhara’s
gambling problem was when the interpreter addressed the Dodgers locker
room after their win over the Padres in
South Korea last Wednesday.
“During the team meeting, Ippei was speaking English but I
didn’t have a translator by my side,” Ohtani said. “But I kind of understood
what was going on and started to feel there was something amiss.”
‘Beyond shocked’
The two men had a one-to-one meeting at the team hotel after
addressing the locker room, in which Mizuhara allegedly admitted he had been
raiding Ohtani’s bank account without his knowledge to settle gambling debts.
“It was revealed to me during that meeting, Ippei admitted
he was sending money using my account to the bookmaker,” Ohtani said.
“To summarise how I’m feeling right now: I’m just beyond
shocked. It’s really hard to verbalise how I’m feeling at this point.”
Major League Baseball on Friday announced it had launched a
formal investigation into the allegations which have rocked the sport as it
gears up for the new season.
MLB is expected to request interviews with all parties,
including Ohtani and Mizuhara, although officials cannot compel Mizuhara’s
cooperation because he no longer works in the major leagues.
“I’m going to let my lawyers handle this from here on out
and I am completely assisting in all investigations that are taking place right
now,” Ohtani said on Monday.
The scandal exploded into public view last week when
Ohtani’s lawyers issued a statement after receiving media inquiries about a
federal investigation into an alleged illegal bookmaker in which Ohtani’s name
surfaced.
Ohtani’s lawyers said the player had been the victim of a
“massive theft” while ESPN reported that at least $4.5 million from Ohtani’s
bank account had been wired to the California bookmaker at the center of the
allegations.
Major League Baseball’s gambling policy bars “any player,
umpire, or club or league official or employee” from betting on baseball or
making illegal bets on any other sport.
Players found guilty of betting on a game they were involved
in are subject to life bans, with one-year suspensions if they are found to
have gambled on games they are not directly involved in.
Ohtani is a rarity in baseball in that he combines elite
level pitching and hitting ability, making him a generational talent who has
been portrayed as a modern-day version of Babe Ruth.
Those skills and his clean-cut image have made him the
global face of baseball.
He joined the Dodgers in December on a 10-year deal worth
$700 million — the richest contract in the history of North American sport.
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