Sumo hit by new scandals in Japan
Allegations of bout-fixing have plagued sumo wrestling for decades in Japan, but for the first time it looks like they may be proven.
As part of an investigation into a sumo gambling scandal last year — in which more than 60 wrestlers admitted to illegally gambling — Japanese police confiscated the mobile phones of some wrestlers and uncovered text messages that pointed to match-fixing, according to Hanaregoma, chairman of the Japan Sumo Association.
If these more recent allegations are true, reports the Wall Street Journal, it would threaten sumo's very existence. Japan's most traditional sport has suffered under the, ahem, weight of such scandals over the past year.
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