Japan: National sport 'in crisis'

SUMO wrestling has been plunged into crisis after the ruling association in Japan said it would cancel a keynote tournament due to a match-fixing scandal.

The move by the Japan Sumo Association would mean the spring grand tournament would not take place for the first time since the main venue, Ryogoku Kokugikan, in Tokyo, was renovated in 1946 after being damaged during the Second World War.

The scandal is the latest blow for Sumo, which is reeling from a string of embarrassing incidents, including illegal gambling and drug use among wrestlers. Sumo traces its origins to purification rites. Most Japanese see Sumo wrestlers as the keepers of tradition, and expect them to observe a high standard of public behaviour and wear their hair in topknots like the samurai of old.