The Nippon Professional Baseball logo.
OSAKA — The association for players in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) has asked the organization not to impose penalties, such as suspensions from the upcoming regular season or other activities, for online gambling if there was no habitual involvement.
The Japan Professional Baseball Players Association is also asking each team to follow uniform penalty standards within the professional leagues, according to a source in the industry.
On Feb. 21, the Orix Buffaloes announced that pitcher Taisuke Yamaoka had admitted that he had in the past participated in a poker event at an online casino after NPB informed the team of his suspected involvement in illegal gambling. The team at the same time said Yamaoka was ordered to suspend all baseball activities for the time being.
NPB on Feb. 20 made a request to all of its teams that players and staff be encouraged to come forward in the event that they have used online casinos. On Feb. 27, the organization announced that a total of 14 players and staff in seven teams admitted to such acts occurring since February 2022 — within the three-year statute of limitations for simple gambling offenses. In all cases, they reportedly engaged in non-habitual gambling.
The Japanese Penal Code stipulates that simple gambling is punishable by a fine up to 500,000 yen (approx. $3,300) or a petty fine. A person related to professional baseball, considering these provisions, stated, “The players’ association is asking for no difference in punishments from one team to another, such as a player being allowed in games by one team and another player on a different team not being allowed to play. The association is also considering asking for punishments including for players to pay fines.
An executive committee of representatives from NPB and 12 teams were scheduled to meet March 3 to discuss how to respond to this and other issues.
(Japanese original by Koichi Ogino, Osaka Sports News Department)