The Japan Sumo Association in an extraordinary executive meeting on Sunday decided to punish wrestlers and stablemasters involved in illegal gambling on professional baseball games. It fired the two central figures in the gambling scandal — ozeki Kotomituski and stablemaster Otake. Kotomituski will receive a retirement allowance; Otake will not, probably because he accumulated large debts through gambling and borrowed ¥20 million to ¥30 million from Kotomitsuki.
As a result of their gambling, a large amount of money — possibly millions of yen — may have changed hands and that their acts may have provided a source of funds for gangsters.
Two stablemasters were demoted and 18 wresters, including six makuuchi wrestlers, and 10 stable masters, including JSA Chairman Musashigawa, will be banned from the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, which starts July 11. The JSA also announced the names of 46 wrestlers, stablemasters and other JSA members, including yokozuna Hakuho, who were involved in other types of gambling like gambling on hanafuda card games.