TOKYO－The head of Japan's sumo association has apologized after women attempting to perform CPR during a medical emergency on Wednesday were repeatedly asked to leave a sumo ring.

At least two women rushed into the ring in Maizuru, northwest of Kyoto, after a local mayor collapsed while giving a speech.

But as the women attempted to help the mayor, multiple announcements were made over loudspeakers asking them to leave the ring, city official Noriko Miwa said.

The rings where sumo is practiced are seen as sacred places in the Shinto faith.

Women, who are considered to be "ritually unclean", are barred from stepping into them.

According to witnesses cited by local media, sumo officials threw large quantities of salt into the ring after the women had entered, in an apparent bid to "repurify" the sacred ground.

In a statement, the sumo association's chief, who goes by the name Hakkaku, described the announcements as "inappropriate" under the circumstances.

"The announcement was made by a referee who was upset, but it was an inappropriate act in a situation that involves one's life. We deeply apologize," Hakkaku said.

Miwa said the mayor had been hospitalized and was now in a stable condition.

This is not the first time there has been a sumo battle of the sexes. A row erupted in 1990 when then-chief cabinet secretary Mayumi Moriyama wanted to present the Prime Minister's Cup to a sumo champion in the ring. She eventually lost that battle in the face of sumo bosses.

A decade later, Osaka mayor Fusae Ota was also banned from presenting the champion's trophy in a tournament in the city.

Sumo is still recovering from a scandal last year when former grand champion Harumafuji was charged over an assault on a rival wrestler while out drinking.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE