In the early morning of the 26th, Japan time, Otani will be available for interviews regarding the illegal gambling of Ippei Mizuhara, who was the exclusive interpreter for Major League Baseball player Shohei Otani of the Dodgers. The team only announced that they would issue a statement regarding this interview.
On the 24th, Otani answered "Tomorrow" to a call from the press at the clubhouse at Dodger Stadium, and indicated his intention to respond to interviews on the 25th and 26th Japan time.
Regarding Mr. Mizuhara's illegal gambling, American media reported that 4.5 million dollars, or approximately 680 million yen in Japanese yen, was transferred from Mr. Otani's account to a betting shop called a bookmaker. has begun an investigation.
While the Major League Baseball Organization also announced that it had begun an investigation, Otani's comments were attracting attention, but on the day of the incident, the team announced that they would only respond to interviews by issuing a statement and would not respond to questions.
Furthermore, taking photos and videos is only allowed by the team, and other companies are not permitted.
The focus of the series of issues is at what point did Otani become aware of Mizuhara's gambling and debts, and whether he was involved in repaying the debts.
Initially, Mr. Mizuhara explained to American media that he had asked Otani to repay his debt, but he quickly retracted his request.
After that, Otani reportedly learned of the situation after the opening game on the 20th of this month.
It will be interesting to see how far Otani's statement goes into these points.