The Asahi Shimbun – With the sumo world being rocked a few years ago by a bout-throwing scandal, Japanese soccer officials are trying to maintain the clean image of their sport by heading off any attempts by gamblers to fix J.League games or contests involving Japanese referees. In November, three Japanese were chosen to referee the final of an association cup tournament in Thailand on the basis of having been given high marks for fairness. On the night before the match, the three had completed their training session and were in transit between a shopping center and the hotel they…