Sumo Elder Admits To Gambling
A Sumo elder who was recently brought in to the local police station, to be question has openly admitted to have been taking part in illegal, baseball related gambling.
The Tokyo police took the stablemaster Otake in to be questioned, after an article was released earlier the same day stating that Otake and wrestler, Toyonoshima were somehow linked with gambling.
This gambling scandal however doesn’t just include wrestlers but also members of the Japanese Sumo Association and the ‘stablemasters’. Eleven members of the Japanese Sumo Association are already in line to be suspended. This also shockingly includes the current chairman of the association.
However it has been concluded that the gambling wasn’t just baseball related but in fact included other sports and games as well, mainly card games. Gambling is illegal in Japan which is why it is usually linked with the yakuza.
So far up to sixty five wrestlers are reported to have admitted to have taken part in gambling. This number is quite significant considering the number of sumo wrestlers even in Japan is quite low. The police haven’t managed to link the gambling directly to the yakuza, but still strongly believe that the yakuza are playing an important role in these events. Some wrestlers are also reported to being blackmailed by the yakuza, who had been threatening to spill the beans on the occurrences.
The first wrestler against whom corrective actions are stated to take place is, Kotomitsuki. Kotomitsuki is currently wranked as the second best sumo wrestler in the world and is also the current reigning champion. He is subject to being suspended from the sport for life.
All of this begs to ask, what will happen of sumo? And will it manage to survive such a hard hitting controversy? Sumo already has a very limited number of people in it due to its allowance of inhumane levels of obesity. The government has decided to step in and replace the current chairman with a foreigner who has no relationship with the Japanese public.
A reform would be the only appropriate solution to the situation the sport has found itself in, most of the top wrestlers have been suspended and sponsors are dropping out every other second. The NHK is the state broadcaster of the tournament and even they have refused to broadcast the upcoming Nagoya tournament. This will prevent the Japanese Sumo association from receiving the five million dollars they would have normally received by the broadcasters for showing the tournament.
The reputation of sumo as a sport has consistently been damaged by scandals over the years. The Sumo association has a one track mind and has constantly been refusing to introduce a reform. This act has caused the public to feel fed up and disgusted with the association and sumo wrestling in general. A recent survey has proved that most of the Japanese public would like the sport to undergo some modernization like all the other sports all over the world have.
What will happen to the sumo world after this new gambling scandal will be interesting to see. The fans of the sport will be hoping that it all turns out for the better, but there are no guarantees as to what happens, so the fans along with everyone else will just have to wait and see.
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