Ohtani denies betting on baseball
LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani said Monday he had never bet on baseball or other sports, declaring himself “saddened and shocked” after accusing his interpreter of stealing from his bank account to pay off millions of dollars in gambling debts.
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 emphasized 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. — AFP