ID :
136257
Thu, 08/05/2010 - 10:22
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Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/136257
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Sumo: Japan sumo assoc. chief Musashigawa to step down over scandals+
TOKYO, Aug. 4 Kyodo - Japan Sumo Association Chairman Musashigawa will step down, possibly Thursday, due to scandals involving illegal betting on professional baseball and sumo's
alleged ties with the criminal underworld, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
At an extraordinary board meeting Wednesday, it was announced that Musashigawa,
who had fallen ill and had been recently hospitalized, would return to his
duties on Thursday. But he has expressed his intent to resign, the sources
said.
Musashigawa has accepted responsibility for the latest in a series of scandals
to rock the sumo world while his health issues are also a factor in his
decision to resign.
Former Tokyo High Prosecutors Office chief Hiroshi Murayama has been serving as
the sumo governing body's acting chairman while Musashigawa was on probation
after Miyabiyama, a wrestler from the chairman's stable, was found to have
gambled on baseball.
The sports ministry on Wednesday morning asked Murayama to replace Musashigawa
as chairman of sumo's governing body, the sources said.
With the ministry's move, the JSA board sent some of its senior members to
Musashigawa, who then expressed his intention to step down, they added.
Japan will see the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament getting underway Sept. 12 under
a new administration.
If the next chairman is chosen from within the JSA, it will be an executive
selected by a majority of votes posted by all board members.
According to one board member, former JSA Chairman Kitanoumi, who stepped down
over a series of marijuana scandals and was replaced by Musashigawa in Sept.
2008, is a leading candidate while former yokozuna Takanohana is also in the
frame.
The JSA decided at Wednesday's board meeting to incorporate a reform-minded
framework put forth by an independent panel that will sever the ancient sport's
ties to the mafia.
The panel suggested in its previous meeting of July 31 that penalties be
imposed to prohibit association with gangsters as a basic strategy to eliminate
criminal elements from sumo.
They also said those who associate with gangsters or engage in illegal gambling
should be reported to the JSA chairman.
==Kyodo
alleged ties with the criminal underworld, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
At an extraordinary board meeting Wednesday, it was announced that Musashigawa,
who had fallen ill and had been recently hospitalized, would return to his
duties on Thursday. But he has expressed his intent to resign, the sources
said.
Musashigawa has accepted responsibility for the latest in a series of scandals
to rock the sumo world while his health issues are also a factor in his
decision to resign.
Former Tokyo High Prosecutors Office chief Hiroshi Murayama has been serving as
the sumo governing body's acting chairman while Musashigawa was on probation
after Miyabiyama, a wrestler from the chairman's stable, was found to have
gambled on baseball.
The sports ministry on Wednesday morning asked Murayama to replace Musashigawa
as chairman of sumo's governing body, the sources said.
With the ministry's move, the JSA board sent some of its senior members to
Musashigawa, who then expressed his intention to step down, they added.
Japan will see the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament getting underway Sept. 12 under
a new administration.
If the next chairman is chosen from within the JSA, it will be an executive
selected by a majority of votes posted by all board members.
According to one board member, former JSA Chairman Kitanoumi, who stepped down
over a series of marijuana scandals and was replaced by Musashigawa in Sept.
2008, is a leading candidate while former yokozuna Takanohana is also in the
frame.
The JSA decided at Wednesday's board meeting to incorporate a reform-minded
framework put forth by an independent panel that will sever the ancient sport's
ties to the mafia.
The panel suggested in its previous meeting of July 31 that penalties be
imposed to prohibit association with gangsters as a basic strategy to eliminate
criminal elements from sumo.
They also said those who associate with gangsters or engage in illegal gambling
should be reported to the JSA chairman.
==Kyodo
