Sumo set to return to action after bout-rigging scandal forced long layoff

TOKYO – Sumo has been cleared to resume its normal tournament schedule next month after a lengthy hiatus due to a match-fixing scandal.

The head of the Japan Sumo Association met with Sports Minister Yoshiaki Takaki on Wednesday and was told the July 10-24 Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament could go ahead as scheduled, Kyodo news agency reported.

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Japan’s national sport was rocked by a match-fixing scandal in February that forced the cancellation of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in March – the first time in 65 years that a major tournament was cancelled.

The JSA will hold a meeting Thursday to confirm the schedule of the Nagoya tourney.

A total of 25 wrestlers and coaches implicated in the bout-rigging scandal were forced into retirement. The Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in May was replaced by a test tournament in which sumo officials monitored bouts but found no evidence of match-fixing.