I love Head Kick Legend because they do a tremendous job of covering K-1 (a sport that I don’t follow closely) in a way that makes it easy for someone to follow. And now today I love them because they finally made the whole “sumo scandal” make sense:
Japanese Sumo Scandal Continues
↵↵First, a scandal broke as some coaches were selling special ringside seats to the yazuka (mafia). Shortly after a second scandal hit as 34-year old ozeki Kotomitsuki admitted that he had a problem gambling on baseball games and got into trouble with the yakuza. And then, a Hairdresser going by the single name of Tokoike is suspected of having acted as a go-between between wrestlers and bookmakers. 65 sumo association members and wrestlers have admitted to illegal gambling, Japanese media have reported.
The latest trouble comes now as police have obtained an arrest warrant for 38-year-old Mitsutomo Furuichi for allegedly trying to blackmail Kotomitsuki in connection with the illegal gambling on professional baseball games. Kotomitsuki had claimed he had paid 3.5 million yen (US$38,000) in ‘hush money’ to Furuichi, who had demanded over 100 million yen.
↵↵It’s strange to Americans to think of sumo as something so culturally significant and not just two fat guys in diapers smashing into each other. But look at the amount of scandal this has created!
↵...Forget it, I just can’t get past the fact that they’re hugely fat guys in diapers smashing into each other.
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