2010年5月26日水曜日

Police want Sumo association to shun gangsters

Police are seeking to put Japan's sumo rings off limits to gangsters, after it came to light that senior members of crime syndicates had watched bouts from special seats.

The issue made headlines this week when police revealed that a total 55 members of a crime group had watched bouts from ringside seats at last July's Nagoya grand sumo tournament. The scandal came on top of a similar case in which the head of another crime syndicate watched bouts from ringside during this January's Tokyo tourney.

These seats are usually allotted only to individuals and businesses that make large donations to the Sumo Association. But the gang members had managed to acquire the tickets, which were originally arranged by 2 stable masters.

Police say they will step up monitoring to shut gangsters out of grand tournament venues in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka, as well as those for regional tours.

They also plan to ask the Sumo association to provide seminars for stable masters and wrestlers to raise awareness of the problem.

0 件のコメント:

コメントを投稿