Four Japanese baseball players and one team staffer from the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team Saitama Seibu Lions are under investigation for gambling at online casinos.
In a report broken by Fuji News, the four players have been named as Shuta Tonosaki, Sena Tsuge, Shinya Hasegawa, and Ryosuke Kodama. The staffer has not been identified.
The five involved are believed to have self-reported to the team about gambling at online casinos, which is a crime in Japan.
Subsequently, police were called to investigate, interviewed the men, and confirmed the activity through their smartphones. The case has now been referred to prosecutors.
Under Japanese law, gambling at online casinos can incur a fine of up to $500,000 or a 3-year prison sentence for habitual gambling. The NPB also has strict rules about gambling and has issued fines as well as bans from the sport for similar past offenses.
Earlier this year, 16 NPB players were fined for online casino gambling, with charges ranging from around $600 to $20,000. In this case, there were no suspensions or criminal referrals, as none were found betting on baseball games.
Japan has been increasing penalties for gambling at online casinos, however. The Lower House passed a bill earlier this month to increase penalties on gambling operators, individual gamblers, and anyone promoting illegal gambling sites through social media.
This week, boy band JO1 member Shion Tsurubo has also been referred to prosecutors for gambling at online casinos. In addition, a man was arrested in April for gambling an estimated $625,000 on Stake, as well as promoting the platform through social media.
Tsurubo, like many others, claimed that he did not know betting on foreign gambling sites was illegal. Japan has requested foreign governments to assist in shutting down illegal sites that target Japanese gamblers.
Curaçao is estimated to host 70% of the illegal online casino sites that actively target Japanese gamblers. Along with contacting the Dutch Caribbean territory, Japan’s central government also requested cooperation from authorities in Costa Rica, Canada, Malta, Georgia, Gibraltar, and the UK’s Isle of Man in May of this year.
Shuta Tonosaki is the most senior member involved in the gambling scandal. The 32-year-old is a 3-time NPB All-Star, including in the last two seasons. He has hit over 100 career home runs over a 10-year career at the Seibu Lions.
Backup catcher Sena Tsuge has appeared in nearly 200 games since debuting for the team in 2020. Shinya Hasegawa and Ryosuke Kodama joined the Saitama side, based just outside Tokyo, more recently, but have also featured fairly regularly since debuting in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Despite the allegations, Tonosaki and Hasegawa both started for the Lions in their match against Yokohama Baystars on Thursday, June 19, after the story broke. Hasegawa batted in a 2-1 victory for the team, who currently sit in third place in the Pacific League.
The Lions finished in last place in the Pacific League last season and have not won the Japan Series since 2008. Baseball is the most popular sport for betting in the country. A report estimated that Japanese gamblers wagered over $4 billion on illegal betting sites on baseball last year.
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