Recently, Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Otani was accused of participating in sports gambling by his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, sending shockwaves through the sports community. However, Otani denied such allegations, claiming he has never placed a sports bet.
“I never bet on baseball or any other sports, or never have asked somebody to do that on my behalf,” Ohtani stated in Japanese, speaking through his English translator. “And never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports.”
The superstar further expressed how utterly “shocked” he feels about the allegations, where he struggles to articulate his emotions. “To summarize how I’m feeling right now, I’m just beyond shocked,” Ohtani continued. “It’s really hard to verbalize how I’m feeling at this point. He added, “I’m very saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this.”
The professional athlete explained that he was unaware of Mizuhara’s debt until very recently when he offered his side of the story. He claimed that his translator never made him aware of the media inquiry surrounding his alleged sports betting.
“Last weekend in Korea, media had reached out to a representative in my camp inquiring about my potential involvement in this sports betting,” he said. “Ippei never revealed to me that there was this media inquiry. To the representatives in my camp, Ippei told to the media and my representatives that I, on behalf of a friend, paid off debt.”
Ohtani maintained that the narrative about the sports gambling debt was entirely false. “Upon further questioning, it was revealed that it was actually in fact Ippei who was in debt, and told my representatives that I was paying off those debts. All of this has been a complete lie,” he said.
According to Ohtani’s legal team, Mizuahara was supposedly siphoning millions of dollars from the superstar to make illegal bets through a bookmaker in California. The bookmaker in question, Orange County resident Matthew Bowyer, is reportedly under federal investigation.
“So Ippei has been telling everybody around that he has been communicating with me on this account to my representatives, to the team, and that has not been true,” said the Japanese baseball player. “The first time I knew about Ippei’s gambling was after the first game [in Korea] when we had a team meeting in the clubhouse.” Watch footage of Ohtani denying the gambling allegations below:
During an ESPN interview, Mizuhara claimed that Ohtani was paying debts to assist a friend. However, a lawyer representing the Dodgers player, informed the outlet that the translator was stealing from Ohtani. “I didn’t have a translator on my side,” per Ohtani. “But even with that, I kinda understood what was going on and started to feel that there was something amiss.”
Ohtani revealed that he contacted his attorneys after discovering Mizuhara’s conduct. “When we went back to the hotel one to one, that was when I found out he had a massive debt,” he added. “It was revealed to me during that meeting that Ippei admitted he was sending money using my account to the bookmaker. At that moment, obviously it was an absurd thing that was happening, and I contacted my representatives at that point.” The baseball star maintained, “I have not bet on sports, or have willfully sent money to the bookmaker.”
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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