Two Members of Japanese Baseball Team Cited for Gambling Online

A court has issued an unnamed member of the Japanese pro baseball franchise Chunichi Dragons a fine for gambling online.

The Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reported on October 7 that the Nagoya Summary Court issued an order to the unnamed staffer, imposing a 100,000 yen ($662) fine.

Prosecutors decided not to indict another unnamed individual, also a member of the same baseball franchise. The Aichi Prefectural Police sent two people from the franchise to local prosecutors on July 25.

The team later revealed that one of the individuals was Shinichiro Koyama, the team’s second-string pitching coach.

Koyama confessed to placing bets on an online casino site using his smartphone in September 2024.

Team Apologizes to Fans — Again

The Prosecutors’ Office stated that it would not disclose the names of either individual, nor the reasons for its disciplinary steps.

However, in previous cases involving sports stars and celebrities, provincial prosecutors have decided not to indict individuals who have made full confessions or made relatively few visits to online casinos.

They have instead looked to release these individuals with informal warnings. They have typically prosecuted people who failed to cooperate with investigations or showed signs of habitual gambling.

The Chunichi Dragons issued a public apology. In a statement, the franchise said: “We will make sure our entire team is aware that using online casinos is illegal. We will implement comprehensive efforts to stamp out illegal gambling.”

The Nagoya-based team reiterated its earlier statements from this year, offering its “sincerest apologies” to fans.

A Controversial Crackdown

In Japan, prosecutors use summary courts for cases involving relatively minor crimes. They also handle civil cases involving claims under the 1.4 million yen ($9,217) threshold.

Thus far, prosecutors have used summary courts to try several celebrities and sports stars identified in recent anti-gambling crackdowns.

In July, the Saitama District Public Prosecutors’ Office announced that it would not indict the baseball players Shuta Tonosaki, Sena Tsuge, Ryosuke Kodama, and Shinya Hasegawa. All four play for the Saitama Seibu Lions in the Nippon Professional Baseball league.

The crackdowns have stoked controversy in the Japanese professional baseball world. Some players have complained that they cooperated with franchise-led investigations on the condition that they would not be named in the press.

However, in some cases, information on players’ identities has leaked to the media. This has soured the relationship between some star players and their teams.

Almost all forms of online betting are illegal in Japan, and accessing overseas casino sites from Japanese territory is a criminal offense.