Japanese press reports that Abi has handed in his intai documents, according to Shikoroyama oyakata.
The board convenes on August 6th to discuss his punishment, and will also decide whether or not to accept his resignation. However, the chances of it not being accepted are said to be slim.
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Ugh, and didn’t he just get married, too? I feel bad for his wife… At least he probably hasn’t caught covid from his little romp. Does anyone know if the SNS ban will be revisited any time soon? The rikishi are on virtual lockdown, still, and I can’t imagine the SNS ban isn’t making that harder, especially for the non-Japanese guys.
Doesn’t look like it will any time soon.
Very sad news. Abi was a nice change with his smiling face amid the perpetual scowls.
Hopefully the will be some uncharacteristic forgiveness for his foolishness.
I really liked Abi’s personality in that he had one (and it was a doozy) where so many other rikishi seemingly didn’t. But it’s exactly that impish streak that got him into this mess. He went too far this time, with so many lives potentially at stake. Damn.
The annoying thing is that they are just about to lift some of the restrictions. One has to wonder how much those factored into the other recent retirements. These COVID lockdowns have been difficult and I presume it has been quite a bit more difficult on sumo wrestlers than others in lockdown situations. Could you imagine any other society where going out to a business that’s legally open would cost you your job? Obviously, some people are still going to cabaret clubs and whatnot.
I just imagine that it was pretty difficult to live in those circumstances. I wonder if those restrictions would have been in place through Aki since the media there is paying attention to the rising COVID numbers, though they’re much smaller than in the US. With this scandal piggybacked by Tagonoura’s night out, it just makes me think that the Kyokai realized they were sitting on a powder keg and needed to loosen up.
I don’t know how it works in the USA, but here, in the basketball and soccer leagues, the players were required to stay quarantined until the season was over. And there is no general lockdown at the moment.
NBA is playing in a “bubble” at Disney but Baseball is under no lockdown, opting for daily testing and having a couple of outbreaks already in Miami and St. Louis.
What a moron.
Japan has a harsh culture if you step out of line. I would have thought that the forced kyujo + maybe for
the next tournament too — which would send Abi down to the lower ranks of Juryo would have been a
sufficient penalty.
I think he has the habit of pushing the rules alot. Not the first time they have had to reel him in. Unfortunately the younger folks who have never had to follow any rules, never had consequences as children find it near impossible to follow rules as adults.. Japanese culture is stricter than most and the whole sumo culture and commitment , require obedience and adherence to the rules. You want to be a Sumo wrestler? follow these rules period end of story. Can’t really make exceptions because it changes the game for all others after him
I was never a fan of Abi’s style, but he had oodles of charisma and was fun to watch so this is very sad news.
Is there any chance that by throwing up his hands, admitting everything and throwing himself at the mercy of the board, his request might be rejected? I do hope so.
Meanwhile, the devil on my left shoulder prods me in the ear with his miniature pitchfork and whispers “this let’s Ichinojo in!”
Lksumo thinks this actually saves Nishikigi.
I hope not. I am fed up with this another uni-dimensional sumo rikishi. So …. no more Nishikigi.
Although letting in Ichinojo is a plausible alternative. They’re tied by the numbers, Nishikigi is demotable, Ichinojo is not quite in promotion territory…maybe they do make the exchange (which I personally would like to see).
It sounds like decision one whether to accept it won’t be made until Thursday, and the banzuke meeting is tomorrow, so not sure how they’ll handle that…
Only four promotions announced: https://twitter.com/sumokyokai/status/1290813411966631936?s=20
So now we need to wait to see if the saved Takagenji.
So at least we know Abi will be on the Aki banzuke at a typical position…
Yeah, I gess so.
I wonder how all of the spectators who were present at the basho every day that Abi present feel? How about any other rikishi who was feeling ill or was ill after wrestling him. We still don’t know if he or the other wrestler is positive yet. So you stil have so many potential outbreaks. Very serious situation. I hope everything works out for all concerned and no one else is infected or dies.
Really? Resignation is a bit extreme even for this. Maybe the system there needs an overhaul. Banishment from the remainder of that tournament was punishment enough.
I have thought suspension from the next as well, but yes, retirement seems a bit too much. Then again, risking lives, recidivism, he didn’t have much in the way of extenuating circumstances.
Indeed. And why do the range of punishments go from a one or max 2 basho suspension straight to intai. If they wanted to they could be really draconian without forcing him out, e.g. one year ban with the commensurate fall down the banzuke
It actually starts at reprimand. Then there’s salary decreases. As for long suspensions – perhaps it has to do with the great aversions the Japanese have toward freeloading. If you’re not working, you shouldn’t be boarded and fed.
What did I miss? What happened?
In mid basho, it turned out he went out, against COVID regulations. Not only out, but out to a hostess bar (that is, a place where you closely interact with complete strangers), together with a rich supporter and a rikishi from another heya who was supposed to be kyujo. This happened once before the basho and once during the basho. He was caught on camera and a story was posted on IG, which leaked to the NSK. When his oyakata heard it, he was immediately made kyujo for the rest of the basho. He actually had a fever on July 25th, but got two antigen tests that were negative for SARS-Cov-2.
This was viewed very severely by the NSK, as it wasn’t a first offense, and had life-threatening potential. They are supposed to discuss his punishment on the 6th, but this probably preempts it.
That’s crazy. You’d think Abi would have been more responsible and appreciative given the fact that he was a top division rikishi. That’s really sad. Goes to show you how young he was I guess. Poor decision that will affect the rest of his life.
I liked Abi, but come on kid, you’ve been in sumo 7 years, all your adult life, and you haven’t grasped how strict the rules can be?
It is not like he went out driving without a license and lie about it though?
Demoting him to Makushita would have been sufficient in my book.
He didn’t lie about it, that’s true, but I’m not sure how different what he did is from driving without a license. A rikishi already died from COVID. The man did catch a virus there, and is lucky it was just the common cold. It’s not to be taken lightly.
I think he’s referring to German soccer player Marco Reus. He got caught driving without a license for a few months or so and since he’s talented and rather famous in Germany it obviously became a big deal.
A young, rich and privileged man puts the life of others in danger by not following rules.
So yeah,… there’s no difference.
I thought he was talking about Osunaarashi, who did exactly that and was forced to retire.
Correction: turns out he did lie about it.
He admitted to two excursions. The investigation uncovered that he actually went out more than a dozen times.
I don’t feel sorry for him. This wasn’t just a matter of breaking a rule, it was selfish, entitled, and potentially dangerous.
A DOZEN?! Oh, forget it. Forget him. Buh-bye.
On reading this I was reconciled with Abi’s impending exit from sumo but SumoSoul is reporting his resignation was *not* accepted. https://twitter.com/TheSumoSoul/status/1291322368602726403?s=19
Yes, I think I’ll post something about this as soon as *all* the details are clear to me. It looks like every news outlet is letting out only part of the story. The short version so far is that he has a conditional survival path.
It seems that there has long been a question of Abi’s commitment to the sport. His recent cavalier behavior suggests that at least part of him would prefer the less regimented life of working for his family’s construction business, in which role no one would raise an eyebrow if he chose to spend evenings entertaining customers at a hostess club.
Strict protocols were put in place to protect the other rikishi, as well as the basho itself, and he casually disregarded them. Had it been his first faux pas with the JSA, it might have been dealt with a bit more leniently, but unfortunately it is not. He, potentially, could have infected others as well as shutting down the basho–reckless behavior that has been dealt with in the most harsh way possible. Having already lost one rikishi to Covid, the JSA felt an example had to be made, particularly since they are at greater risk of a bad outcome due to their size (and in Terunofuji’s case, diabetes).
Omg!! Abi is my favorite wrestler please dont let this be the end! T_T
I feel if they accept it, they will be making a mistake. Abi has a lot of future ahead of him in Sumo, a lot of fans love him. Yea, he’s rash, yea he needs to smarten up but honestly, I feel they should deny his papers and just hit him with a few sanctions with the prevision that if he screws up again in the next say 6 months / 3 Basho’s then he’s out.