Caught Gambling on Baseball – Sumo Wrestlers
You’re wrong, if you thought that sumo wrestlers didn’t do anything but eat, sleep and practice — evidently they also have plenty of time and money to bet on sports.
For betting tens of thousands of dollars on baseball games as part of a scandal, more than twenty-four top Japanese wrestlers and coaches are being investigated, which has been dubbed a “disgrace” to the Japan sumo administration. However, with a scheduled tournament members of the administration still plan to move forward, but apparently are still considering the wrestlers who were involved in the embarrassing predicament.
The act of gambling has been deemed as an unethical activity for sumo wrestlers to participate in and it is seen as a lack of discipline.
The mob may be involved, to make matters worse. According to an NPR article by Lucy Craft, “The details of the scandal involve a hairdresser who served as courier between wrestlers and the Japanese mob, known as the yakuza, to place the bets. Hairdressers, who create the perfumed and oiled topknots that wrestlers wear, are a constant presence at sumo stables.”
Police are considering criminal more criminal punishments pending the outcome of the investigation and one individual has already been arrested.