Shohei Ohtani says he ‘never bet on baseball’: Everything Dodgers star said

Shohei Ohtani, speaking through his new translator, denied betting on baseball or any other sport and called former translator Ippei Mizuhara a liar.

Ohtani made his first public statements on the allegations of Mizuhara's gambling debt and theft on Monday afternoon, speaking for 12 minutes without taking questions from the media at Dodgers Stadium.

“On a personal note, I’m very saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this," Ohtani said after thanking fans, team officials and media for their patience. "...I never bet on baseball or any other sports or never have asked someone to do that on my behalf. I never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports."

Ohtani then laid out the timeline of events, including how he found out about Mizuhara's actions.

Shohei Ohtani explains how gambling scandal unfolded

"Up until a couple days ago, I didn’t know that this was happening," Ohtani said. "In conclusion, Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies."

The lies Ohtani claims Mizuhara told included not telling him about media inquiries into his connection to a massive gambling debt. Ohtani claims Mizuhara lied to his representatives and the media about the player paying debt "on behalf of a friend."

“All of this has been a complete lie," Ohtani said. "Ippei obviously lied about the media inquiry. Ippei has been telling everybody around that Ippei has been communicating with Shohei to my representative, to the team. That hasn't been true."

The story of the gambling debt and the incoming media storm was revealed to Ohtani at the same time it was revealed to the Dodgers at large.

"The first time I knew about Ippei's gambling was after the first game when we had a team meeting in the clubhouse," Ohtani said. "During the team meeting Ippei was speaking English and I didn't have a translator on my side. But even with that I kind of understood what was going on and started to feel there as something amiss."

Ohtani says Ippei asked for a one-to-one talk at the team hotel. It was during that meeting that Mizuhara first told Ohtani about his gambling addiction and debt.

"I never agreed to pay off the debt or make payments to the bookmaker," Ohtani said.

"It was during that meeting that Ippei admitted he was sending money using my account to the bookmaker. It was an absurd thing that was happening and I contacted my representatives at that point."

Ohtani said he contacted his lawyers and the Dodgers, who all realized "they had been lied to."

"My lawyers recommended that because this is theft and fraud, that we have the proper authorities handle this matter," Ohtani said.

That brings us to now, with Ohtani reaffirming that he does not gamble.

"I want to make it clear that I never bet on sports or willfully sent money to the bookmaker," he said.

He also expressed his feelings on the whole matter.

"I’m beyond shocked. It’s really hard to verbalize how I am feeling at this point," Ohtani said.

With the MLB season coming up, Ohtani said he will let his lawyers handle things from here. He said he will "completely assist" any investigations.

"I’m looking forward to focusing on the season."