- Title: JAPAN/MONGOLIA: Mongolian sumo wrestler allowed to leave Japan for treatment
- Date: 29th August 2007
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (AUGUST 28, 2007) (REUTERS) JAPANESE MEDIA STATIONED OUTSIDE THE KOKUGIKAN/ SATELLITE BROADCASTING TRUCKS PRESS PREPARING A LIVE REPORT
- Embargoed: 13th September 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA77W5VU87NMD8ERBCASSAIGJ6P
- Story Text: Mongolian sumo wrestler Asashoryu is given the green light to leave Japan for treatment.
Sumo grand champion Asashoryu will be allowed to return home to Mongolia after being diagnosed as close to depression following his suspension for playing soccer while out of wrestling action with a back injury.
In an emergency meeting on Tuesday (August 28), officials of the ancient Japanese sport gave the go-ahead for the 150 kg (330 lb) Asashoryu to travel, ending weeks of wrangling that had received blow-by-blow coverage by the media.
"He has been given permission to leave the country for treatment.
And will leave as early as possible for this treatment. And also I will follow him to Mongolia to see what sort of treatment he will be getting there before I return to Japan," annoucenment Asashoryu's stable master Takasago.
The fate of the 26-year-old had been clouded since he infuriated the Japan Sumo Association by turning out for a charity soccer match in his native Mongolia in July despite having withdrawn from a regional sumo tour with a back injury.
Reactions were mixed on the streets of Tokyo near the sumo district of Ryogoku.
"He's gotten rich so I think he should return home and give up sumo," said Keiichi Itoh, a 43 year old company employee.
"I want him to come back to Japan. If he can't do that I would like to see him do something back home with children promoting sumo,"
added a more sympathetic Akemie Takada.
"He brought this on himself. Its his own fault. He doesn't need to go back home. He brought it upon himself and should deal with it," said 80 year old long time sumo fan Keijiro Hinoyama.
Officials handed the wrestler a two-tournament suspension, forcing him to miss events next month and in November, while insisting he sat out the ban in Japan.
Earlier this month, a psychiatrist diagnosed Asashoryu, whose real name is Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj, as being one step away from clinical depression and recommended he be allowed to travel to his home in Mongolia especially after being hounded by the press.
"A good treatment environment for him is one where he will not be chased by media like you and in peace. In that case Mongolia is a good environment. And though Its hard to say whether real treatment is available there, but in terms of environment treatment in mongolia is a good option," Hiroyuki Yoshida, head of the Sumo Association Clinic told a press conference earlier last week.
However, the wrestler had been stuck in Tokyo since, with swarms of media crew staked outside his home while his "stable" elder Takasago urged him to apologise in public and senior sumo officials insisted he undergo treatment in Japan.
Japanese media say the wrestlers could take the next direct flight to Mongolia on Wednesday (August 29).
One sports daily said he could stay in Mongolia until the end of September.
Promoted to the highest rank of "yokozuna" in 2003, Asashoryu has been hailed as one of the greatest wrestlers of his generation but his short temper and breaches of protocol have sparked anger in the conservative world of sumo.
Asashoryu has been disqualified for pulling an opponent's hair, criticised for complaining to judges after losing a decision and accused of breaking a side mirror of a rival's car.
Footage last month of the heavyweight sprinting around the pitch in a red soccer shirt further dismayed fans of sumo, for which pageantry and sense of dignity play almost as big a role as the giants who tussle in the rope-lined dirt ring.
Yokozuna hold an almost god-like status in a sport that dates back 2,000 years and remains imbued with Shinto religious overtones.
Despite sumo's popularity, especially among the older generation, fewer young Japanese men are showing an interest in becoming wrestlers in recent years, discouraged by the rigours of training and the slim chance of hitting the big time.
That has opened up the ring to wrestlers from Mongolia, Russia and South America, although some Japanese are dissatisfied about the scarcity of native-born champions.
Sumo has not had a Japanese grand champion since the wildly popular Takanohana retired in 2003 and currently the only other yokozuna is another Mongolian, Hakuho, a soft-spoken 22-year-old who fans hope can live up to the title's strict code. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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