(Los Angeles) Shohei Ohtani said Monday that he never made sports bets or voluntarily paid the gambling debts of his ex-performer, Ippei Mizuhara.
Published at 3:03 p.m. Updated at 6:23 p.m.
Greg Beacham
Associated Press
The Los Angeles Dodgers star instead claimed his good friend lied to him and stole millions of dollars.
Ohtani gave his version of events during a press conference at Dodger Stadium, five days after the club fired Mizuhara. This came last week when the team was in South Korea to open its season against the San Diego Padres.
The decision was made following revelations by the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about Mizuhara’s ties to an illegal bookstore owner and allegations by Ohtani’s lawyers that he was a victim of “theft.” colossal,” according to them.
“I’m very saddened and shocked that someone I trusted would do this,” said Ohtani, who was accompanied by Will Ireton, the team’s performance operations manager, to provide translation.
PHOTO DAVID SWANSON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Shohei Ohtani during the press conference
“Ippei stole money from my account and lied,” Ohtani said. I have never bet on sports or voluntarily sent money to a bookmaker. »
Ohtani spoke for nearly 12 minutes while reading a written statement. He did not answer questions afterward.
Ohtani still attempted to answer the more important question by repeatedly emphasizing that he was never knowingly involved in sports betting. He provided no details about how Mizuhara might have stolen his money to pay off his gambling debts.
“I have never bet on baseball or any other sport and have never asked anyone to do so on my behalf. I have never gone through a bookmaker to bet on sport and I have never been asked for help to do so,” said the Japanese.
Twice named the American League’s Most Valuable Player with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani agreed to a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers in December. Ohtani and Mizuhara have worked together since the athlete joined the Angels in 2018.
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has confirmed that Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, who runs an illegal betting house in Orange County, California, are under criminal investigation. .
Mizuhara told ESPN that he has gambling debts totaling more than $1 million. He initially said Ohtani paid those debts, at his request. He later changed that story, telling ESPN that Ohtani was unaware of his gambling debts and did not himself transfer funds to him to bookmen.
“This is all a complete lie,” Ohtani said. Ippei obviously didn’t tell me about the media requests. He said he was communicating on my behalf about this to the media and my team, and that wasn’t true. »
Ohtani said he first became aware of Mizuhara’s gambling problem during a team meeting after last Wednesday’s opening match. Since Mizuhara was speaking to team representatives in English, Ohtani explained that he had difficulty understanding his remarks.
“To sum up how I feel right now, I’m just beyond shocked,” Ohtani said. It’s really hard to put into words how I feel at this point.
“The season is about to start, so I will let my lawyers handle the matter from now on. I am fully participating in all ongoing investigations at this time. »
2024-03-25 23:14:03
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