MLB
Shohei Ohtani has damaged his silence concerning the betting scandal involving his longtime interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
Ohtani learn a ready assertion to reporters Monday afternoon at Dodgers Stadium earlier than an exhibition sport in opposition to the Angels, declining to reply questions from the media.
“I by no means guess on baseball or another sports activities, or by no means have requested somebody to do this on my behalf, and have by no means went by way of a bookmaker to guess on sports activities,” Ohtani mentioned by way of his new interpreter, Will Ireton.
Ohtani, 29, mentioned he didn’t know till “a few days in the past” that Mizuhara was “stealing cash from my account” to position bets.
He mentioned he didn’t know concerning the playing till the Dodgers held a group assembly after their first sport in opposition to the Padres final week in Seoul.
These had been the primary feedback Ohtani has made because the murky story got here out final week about Mizuhara dropping hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to alleged unlawful bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, and the funds getting transferred out of Ohtani’s account to cowl the money owed.
The Los Angeles Instances first broke the story final Wednesday, reporting that Mizuhara had been accused of stealing “hundreds of thousands” from Ohtani.
Mizuhara has not been charged with any crimes.
Later that very same day, ESPN reported that an Ohtani spokesperson had mentioned that the Dodgers slugger had transferred $4.5 million to Bowyer to cowl Mizuhara’s money owed, and made Mizuhara out there to the outlet for an on-record interview.
Then, nonetheless, Ohtani’s camp “disavowed” Mizuhara’s account of what had occurred.
ESPN later reported that the mixup had apparently occurred as a result of Ohtani’s camp had been counting on Mizuhara’s model of occasions earlier than realizing what had occurred.
Mizuhara additionally labored as Ohtani’s translator throughout his Angels tenure, and the 2 had been shut pals along with their working relationship.
“In the middle of responding to current media inquiries, we found that Shohei has been the sufferer of a large theft and we’re turning the matter over to the authorities,” the West Hollywood legislation agency Berk Brettler instructed The Put up in a press release.
Mizuhara instructed ESPN that he guess on sports activities akin to soccer and soccer however by no means baseball.
“I by no means guess on baseball,” he mentioned. “That’s 100%. I knew that rule. … We’ve got a gathering about that in spring coaching.”
Ohtani’s camp has reportedly pushed for a legal investigation into the matter.
Elements of Mizuhara’s previous have come into query, as The Athletic reported he didn’t attend UC Riverside in school, as his outdated Angels bio mentioned, nor did he work for the Purple Sox, as earlier media experiences said.
Ohtani signed a 10-year cope with the Dodgers value $700 million this offseason, with a mind-boggling $680 million of the cash deferred till after the tip of the contract.
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