Major League Baseball umpire Pat Hoberg is facing punishment for violations of the league's gambling policy, according to media reports.
Hoberg, 37, is the first umpire to violate MLB's sports betting policy since the Supreme Court's historic PASPA ruling in 2018. Hoberg is appealing the ruling, according to , which first reported the story.
“During this year's Spring Training, Major League Baseball commenced an investigation regarding a potential violation of MLB's sports betting policies by Umpire Pat Hoberg,” MLB said in a statement. “Mr. Hoberg was removed from the field during the pendency of that investigation. MLB's investigation did not find any evidence that games worked by Mr. Hoberg were compromised or manipulated in any way.
“MLB determined that discipline was warranted. Mr. Hoberg has chosen to appeal that determination. Therefore, we cannot comment further until the appeal process is concluded.”