The Seibu Lions said Friday their scouting staff had made under-the-table payments to two amateur players. The staff paid one of the players a total of 10.25 million yen and the other 2.7 million yen "to help them build their physical strength," acting Seibu owner Hidekazu Ota said at a press conference, while declining to give the players' names.
Neither of the players has joined Seibu, Ota said. Ota assumed his current post in February 2006 and was informed of the payments to the players in August.
"I have been negligent in not making this public until now," Ota said. "The issue is yet to be resolved. We'll take appropriate measures no matter what happens."
In 2004, the owners of the Yomiuri Giants, the Hanshin Tigers and the Yokohama BayStars resigned to take responsibility after the three Central League clubs tried to lure then-Meiji University right-hander Yasuhiro Ichiba, now pitching for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, with cash.