a day ago
Sumo: Toyota chairman elected head of amateurs' governing body
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Japan Sumo Federation, which oversees amateur sumo, unanimously elected the chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. as its new head on Saturday.
Akio Toyoda, 69, who has been a long-term supporter of former Mongolian-born grand champion Hakuho, will serve a two-year team.
The move follows Hakuho's decision to leave the Japan Sumo Association on Monday and promote the sport from outside the ruling body.
The former yokozuna, who won a record 45 Emperor's Cups, left little more than a year after the indefinite closure of the Miyagino stable he had overseen as stablemaster, following revelations that one of his proteges had physically abused younger wrestlers.
The 40-year-old has organized the Hakuho Cup, an international youth sumo tournament, since 2010 and his future interaction with the Toyoda-led federation could provide a new opportunity for the sport.
