Wrestlers linked to baseball betting, syndicates
Source: Agencies |
June 18, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE latest scandal to hit the sumo world involves wrestlers betting on baseball games and cavorting with gangsters.
The Japan Sumo Association has revealed that dozens of sumo wrestlers admitted betting on professional baseball games. To make matters worse, the bets appear to be part of a lucrative gambling racket run by organized crime.
Wrestler Kotomitsuki, who holds the second-highest rank of ozeki, was suspended from July's Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament after revealing he bet on baseball games.
Japanese media reported that Kotomitsuki, 34, told police that gang members extorted about US$30,000 in hush money from him to cover up his gambling habit and had demanded another US$1 million from him, which he did not pay.
And Kotomitsuki wasn't the only one. An internal survey by the association found that 65 members of the JSA had also been involved in illegal gambling.
"I would say the association with gangsters is a bigger problem than the betting," said sumo writer Mark Buckton. "I think Kotomitsuki will be kicked out of sumo but his career wasn't really going anywhere."
An article in Shukan Shincho, a weekly magazine that went on sale yesterday, alleged trainer Otake and wrestler Toyonoshima, who is currently in the elite division, were connected with the case.
The suspension of Kotomitsuki came just days after a sumo trainer acknowledged having ties with a member of a crime syndicate.
Coach Kise, whose real name is Naoto Sakamoto, told the JSA that he had ties with a gang member until about three years ago.
The 40-year-old Kise and another trainer were punished last month for providing ringside seats to members of a Nagoya crime syndicate.
Ties between the sumo world and the Japanese mafia have been known about for years but the latest scandal suggests the problem is a lot more widespread than previously believed.
"It's not really that surprising," Buckton said of the ties with the mafia. "It's at all levels of society: business, politics so it stands to reason it's in sumo as well."
The last thing sumo needed at this point was yet another scandal.
Grand champion Asashoryu of Mongolian was forced to retire in February over claims he hit a man during a late-night drinking session.
Last year, a trainer was sentenced to six years in prison for his role in the fatal beating of a young wrestler during training.
The scandals come at a time when sumo is struggling to maintain its relevance among younger Japanese who are more attracted to other sports like soccer and baseball.
The Japan Sumo Association has revealed that dozens of sumo wrestlers admitted betting on professional baseball games. To make matters worse, the bets appear to be part of a lucrative gambling racket run by organized crime.
Wrestler Kotomitsuki, who holds the second-highest rank of ozeki, was suspended from July's Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament after revealing he bet on baseball games.
Japanese media reported that Kotomitsuki, 34, told police that gang members extorted about US$30,000 in hush money from him to cover up his gambling habit and had demanded another US$1 million from him, which he did not pay.
And Kotomitsuki wasn't the only one. An internal survey by the association found that 65 members of the JSA had also been involved in illegal gambling.
"I would say the association with gangsters is a bigger problem than the betting," said sumo writer Mark Buckton. "I think Kotomitsuki will be kicked out of sumo but his career wasn't really going anywhere."
An article in Shukan Shincho, a weekly magazine that went on sale yesterday, alleged trainer Otake and wrestler Toyonoshima, who is currently in the elite division, were connected with the case.
The suspension of Kotomitsuki came just days after a sumo trainer acknowledged having ties with a member of a crime syndicate.
Coach Kise, whose real name is Naoto Sakamoto, told the JSA that he had ties with a gang member until about three years ago.
The 40-year-old Kise and another trainer were punished last month for providing ringside seats to members of a Nagoya crime syndicate.
Ties between the sumo world and the Japanese mafia have been known about for years but the latest scandal suggests the problem is a lot more widespread than previously believed.
"It's not really that surprising," Buckton said of the ties with the mafia. "It's at all levels of society: business, politics so it stands to reason it's in sumo as well."
The last thing sumo needed at this point was yet another scandal.
Grand champion Asashoryu of Mongolian was forced to retire in February over claims he hit a man during a late-night drinking session.
Last year, a trainer was sentenced to six years in prison for his role in the fatal beating of a young wrestler during training.
The scandals come at a time when sumo is struggling to maintain its relevance among younger Japanese who are more attracted to other sports like soccer and baseball.
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