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158843
Thu, 02/03/2011 - 17:57
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https://www.oananews.org//node/158843
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3 sumo wrestlers, elder admit to match-fixing
TOKYO, Feb. 3 Kyodo - Two sumo wrestlers and one elder have admitted to being involved in fixing matches in high-profile tournaments, sports minister Yoshiaki Takaki said Thursday, in the latest blow to the traditional Japanese sport that was already reeling from a string of scandals.
The unprecedented revelation angered Prime Minister Naoto Kan who called it a ''betrayal'' of the Japanese public, and prompted the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which oversees the Japan Sumo Association, to reconsider the association's future as a government-affiliated entity.
''It is very regrettable that there has been match-fixing involving sumo, which is loved as a national sport by many people in this country,'' Kan told reporters.
Public broadcaster NHK, which decided to pull the plug on live feeds of last summer's Nagoya tournament because of the baseball betting racket, said Thursday it would be canceling its annual ''Fukushi Ozumo'' charity event scheduled for Feb. 11 due to the match-fixing scandal.
''We have decided that it would be difficult to hold the event in the wake of this latest scandal,'' NHK President Masayuki Matsumoto told a news conference.
He also said NHK will examine whether to scrap live coverage of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in March. ''We accept the gravity of this problem and will give this matter consideration,'' he said.
Fuji Television Network, meanwhile, said it has decided not to broadcast Sunday's one-day tournament at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Police investigating illegal gambling on professional baseball in sumo circles last year have come across a number of cellphone text messages that imply that sumo bouts had been rigged.
The sumo governing body JSA questioned 12 sumo wrestlers and elders whose names appeared on the e-mails in question, and three of them -- sumo wrestlers Chiyohakuho and Enatsukasa, and elder Takenawa -- admitted their involvement, Takaki said.
Enatsukasa is believed to be a mediator in the match-throwing.
''We have to investigate to find out whether or not this is true,'' said JSA Chairman Hanaregoma.
Takaki told reporters it is ''possible'' that the ministry will rescind the JSA's current status as a government-authorized entity.
Hanaregoma said he would do his utmost to ensure that does not happen after visiting the sports ministry to apologize and report its investigation results and its plans on how to deal with the matter.
''We will work hard to make sure that does not happen,'' he said. ''With the future in mind the most important thing is how we deal with this problem so there are no changes to the system currently in place at the association.''
The revelation came at a time when sumo's governing body is seeking to renew its status as a new type of affiliate that can continue to get tax benefits.
But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano was negative about that. He said at a press conference, ''If the body is riddled with match-fixing, it would be difficult to grant'' it such a status.
During a JSA interrogation Wednesday, Chiyohakuho, in the second-tier juryo division, at first denied being involved, but later admitted it after being asked about a cellphone text message suggesting it, sources familiar with the matter said.
Chiyohakuho named his opponent in the bout in question but the name of the wrestler, who formerly played in the juryo division, was not mentioned in the text message, the sources said. They later identified the former juryo wrestler as Kirinowaka. He has yet to make any comments on the matter.
Sumo elder Takenawa, who retired after last month's tournament, also admitted his involvement in match-fixing when he was a wrestler but did not name the opponents involved, the sources said.
Excluding Chiyohakuho, Enatsukasa and Takenawa, all the other nine who were questioned in the previous day's JSA investigation have denied involvement.
Sumo's lone grand champion Hakuho remained tightlipped when asked by reporters to comment on the scandal at a traditional end-of-winter ''setsubun'' event in Yokohama.
Meanwhile, investigative sources suggested the possibility that there have been bets on sumo matches.
The sources said Shunsaku Yamamoto, 35, a former sumo wrestler who was arrested on suspicion of organizing gambling on professional baseball, was found to have been exchanging cellphone e-mails that hint that there have been bets on sumo matches with his client sumo wrestlers.
The Metropolitan Police Department will consider whether to build a case on this matter after examining the messages in question, the sources said.
The match-throwing allegations are the latest in a series of scandals plaguing the ancient Japanese sport, including the hazing death of a rookie wrestler, smoking marijuana, illegal gambling on baseball and alleged ties with the yakuza criminal underworld.
The unprecedented revelation angered Prime Minister Naoto Kan who called it a ''betrayal'' of the Japanese public, and prompted the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which oversees the Japan Sumo Association, to reconsider the association's future as a government-affiliated entity.
''It is very regrettable that there has been match-fixing involving sumo, which is loved as a national sport by many people in this country,'' Kan told reporters.
Public broadcaster NHK, which decided to pull the plug on live feeds of last summer's Nagoya tournament because of the baseball betting racket, said Thursday it would be canceling its annual ''Fukushi Ozumo'' charity event scheduled for Feb. 11 due to the match-fixing scandal.
''We have decided that it would be difficult to hold the event in the wake of this latest scandal,'' NHK President Masayuki Matsumoto told a news conference.
He also said NHK will examine whether to scrap live coverage of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in March. ''We accept the gravity of this problem and will give this matter consideration,'' he said.
Fuji Television Network, meanwhile, said it has decided not to broadcast Sunday's one-day tournament at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Police investigating illegal gambling on professional baseball in sumo circles last year have come across a number of cellphone text messages that imply that sumo bouts had been rigged.
The sumo governing body JSA questioned 12 sumo wrestlers and elders whose names appeared on the e-mails in question, and three of them -- sumo wrestlers Chiyohakuho and Enatsukasa, and elder Takenawa -- admitted their involvement, Takaki said.
Enatsukasa is believed to be a mediator in the match-throwing.
''We have to investigate to find out whether or not this is true,'' said JSA Chairman Hanaregoma.
Takaki told reporters it is ''possible'' that the ministry will rescind the JSA's current status as a government-authorized entity.
Hanaregoma said he would do his utmost to ensure that does not happen after visiting the sports ministry to apologize and report its investigation results and its plans on how to deal with the matter.
''We will work hard to make sure that does not happen,'' he said. ''With the future in mind the most important thing is how we deal with this problem so there are no changes to the system currently in place at the association.''
The revelation came at a time when sumo's governing body is seeking to renew its status as a new type of affiliate that can continue to get tax benefits.
But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano was negative about that. He said at a press conference, ''If the body is riddled with match-fixing, it would be difficult to grant'' it such a status.
During a JSA interrogation Wednesday, Chiyohakuho, in the second-tier juryo division, at first denied being involved, but later admitted it after being asked about a cellphone text message suggesting it, sources familiar with the matter said.
Chiyohakuho named his opponent in the bout in question but the name of the wrestler, who formerly played in the juryo division, was not mentioned in the text message, the sources said. They later identified the former juryo wrestler as Kirinowaka. He has yet to make any comments on the matter.
Sumo elder Takenawa, who retired after last month's tournament, also admitted his involvement in match-fixing when he was a wrestler but did not name the opponents involved, the sources said.
Excluding Chiyohakuho, Enatsukasa and Takenawa, all the other nine who were questioned in the previous day's JSA investigation have denied involvement.
Sumo's lone grand champion Hakuho remained tightlipped when asked by reporters to comment on the scandal at a traditional end-of-winter ''setsubun'' event in Yokohama.
Meanwhile, investigative sources suggested the possibility that there have been bets on sumo matches.
The sources said Shunsaku Yamamoto, 35, a former sumo wrestler who was arrested on suspicion of organizing gambling on professional baseball, was found to have been exchanging cellphone e-mails that hint that there have been bets on sumo matches with his client sumo wrestlers.
The Metropolitan Police Department will consider whether to build a case on this matter after examining the messages in question, the sources said.
The match-throwing allegations are the latest in a series of scandals plaguing the ancient Japanese sport, including the hazing death of a rookie wrestler, smoking marijuana, illegal gambling on baseball and alleged ties with the yakuza criminal underworld.
