EDITORIAL: Sleaze in the sumo world

The scandal over illegal gambling that has rocked the sumo world left the Japan Sumo Association contemplating whether to cancel the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament. During an emergency board meeting Monday, the sport's governing body decided that the 15-day tournament should start on July 11 as scheduled.

The association accepted the recommendations of a special investigative committee of outside experts. As a condition for staging the event, the panel called for harsh disciplinary action against oyakata sumo elders and wrestlers embroiled in the scandal.

But we have to question the wisdom of holding the tournament while the scope of the scandal remains unclear.

The conditions set by the panel include meting out punishments for stablemasters Otake and Tokitsukaze as well as ozeki Kotomitsuki for their involvements in unlawful betting on baseball games. The panel also recommended the suspension of more than a dozen active wrestlers along with the association's chairman, Musashigawa, and other senior officials.

This is not a scandal involving a handful of individuals. The investigation thus far has revealed that stablemasters, elders and wrestlers at 14 of the 51 sumo stables were involved in some form of illegal gambling. Clearly, the entire world of sumo is awash in a culture of sleaze. It even emerged that tickets for the best seats in the house were supplied to gangsters through elders.

The police have not finished their investigation into the scandal. The experts' panel is also still looking into the affair. It sent questionnaires to all 1,000 or so members of the association as part of its inquiry. How does the association intend to respond if more serious facts emerge from its investigation?

Given the situation, the association should first try to uncover the entire picture behind the scandal and come up with a plan to radically reform the sumo community. If necessary, the tournament should be called off so as to implement these steps.

Some argue that canceling the event would be tantamount to losing the fight against crime syndicates. But this is a grossly invalid argument. The association will end up only helping the criminal underworld if it maintains business as usual while its efforts to clean up the rot in the sumo community remain incomplete.

Nearly 20 percent of the 70 wrestlers in the juryo division or higher ranks will not compete in the Nagoya tournament. Since the association's chairman will be suspended, as per the panel's recommendations, the event will be supervised by a substitute. This is also unprecedented. There are many stables whose masters will be suspended during the tournament.

Why is the association going ahead with the event in the midst of all these extremely unusual circumstances?

If the money the event will generate for the organization, including estimated ticket sales of more than 1 billion yen ($11 million), is the primary reason for the decision, association officials clearly do not understand the gravity of the situation.

The association's leadership is as good as dead. Four of the 10 inside board members, including Musashigawa, the chairman, will not be present.

Instead of deciding to hold the tournament, the board should resign en masse to take responsibility for the scandal. Then, the association should consider measures to rebuild itself under a new leadership. It would mean seeking advice from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which supervises the association.

The sumo community has traditionally regard the dohyo ring as a "sacred" place. If it tries to keep up appearances by using lower-rank wrestlers as substitutes for those who have been suspended, the association will sully the ring.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 29