LA Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani denies betting on baseball, ‘saddened, shocked’ by friend Ippei Mizuhara’s actions
- Ohtani says suggestions he knew about Mizuhara’s use of illegal bookmaker ‘complete lies’
- Japanese superstar accuses ex-interpreter of stealing from his bank account to pay off millions of dollars in gambling debts
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 emphasised he had been the victim of a theft and that he had no knowledge of Mizuhara’s gambling problems before last week.
But in a 12-minute appearance where he delivered a statement to the press, Ohtani refused to take any questions from reporters and did not explain how Mizuhara was able to transfer US$4.5 million out of a bank account without his knowledge.
“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,” Ohtani said through a translator.
Ohtani, the biggest star in baseball, who joined the Dodgers last December in a record-breaking US$700 million deal, said he had only learned of the revelations involving Mizuhara after last Wednesday’s season-opening win against the San Diego Padres in Seoul.
Ohtani 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”.