NAGOYA (Kyodo) Two sumo stable masters face disciplinary action after they were found to have given senior underworld figures front-row tickets for a tournament last year.
Aichi police said more than 50 members of the Kodokai yakuza group watched matches during the 15-day Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament last July from front-row seats, for which tickets are normally allocated to major supporters who have made significant monetary contributions to the Japan Sumo Association.
The revelation came during recent questioning of the stable masters, one aged 40 and the other 64, during which they claimed they never were aware the tickets would find their way into the hands of the mob, the police said, without further identifying the pair.