NPB Teams Fine 16 Players for Using Online Casinos

Tokyo, March 24 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball Organization, or NPB, said Monday that a total of 16 players of eight teams, including Orix Buffaloes pitcher Taisuke Yamaoka, will be fined by their respective teams for illegally using online casinos.

The eight teams determined the fines for each of the players involved based on how much and how often they bet, after the NPB and its 12 teams discussed standards for penalties based on players' standings and annual salaries.

Yamaoka and the other 15 players, whose names will not be disclosed, will be fined a total of 10.2 million yen.

The NPB launched a survey of players and staff of its 12 teams after learning last month that Yamaoka had used a foreign casino website.

On Feb. 27, the NPB announced that a total of 14 players of seven teams had voluntarily reported their past use of such websites. Another player was later found to have used an online casino.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]