Doping & Drugs ·
Sumo Association Bans Two Brothers After Positive Marijuana Tests
Testing prompted by Wakanoho’s 2008 arrest led to lifetime bans for Roho and Hakurozan and chairman Kitanoumi’s resignation. Both brothers denied using marijuana.
At an emergency meeting on September 8, 2008, the Japan Sumo Association imposed lifetime bans on the Russian brothers Roho and Hakurozan after they tested positive for marijuana. Its chairman, Kitanoumi, said he would resign to take responsibility for the scandal. The brothers repeatedly denied using the drug; their expulsions were sporting sanctions, not criminal convictions.
The testing followed the August arrest of another Russian wrestler, Wakanoho, after police said they had found a third of a gram of marijuana in his wallet on June 24. The 20-year-old had not entered a plea when the arrest was first reported. The association apologized to fans and promised to investigate, then imposed a lifetime ban on him.
On September 2, the association conducted its first drug tests, screening all 69 wrestlers in sumo’s top two divisions for marijuana and two kinds of stimulants. It announced that only Roho and Hakurozan had tested positive. Roho, 28, competed in the top division; Hakurozan, 26, was in the next-highest tier. The association did not immediately announce a punishment.
The next day, Roho rejected the result in unusually direct terms. “I have never used or even touched the stuff,” he told reporters. “I want another test to be conducted at a hospital I can trust.” Hakurozan also denied using marijuana.
A second test was conducted by a Japanese laboratory internationally certified to carry out doping tests. Association spokesman Yuichi Ida said results released on September 5 indicated that the two had consumed amounts far beyond what could be inhaled through secondhand smoke. The brothers continued to deny using the drug.
By then, the positive tests had become front-page news. Sumo traditionally held its athletes and officials to high moral standards, and pressure on its leadership was public before the emergency meeting. Mitsuru Yaku, a member of the association’s reform committee, told Fuji television that Kitanoumi would “naturally get sacked.” What followed was a resignation: Kitanoumi, a former grand champion and Hakurozan’s mentor, told the meeting he would step down to take responsibility.
The lifetime bans ended the brothers’ sumo careers, but the police inquiry was separate. Officers had questioned them and searched their rooms. As of September 8, it was unclear whether further legal action would follow. Unlike possession or sale, marijuana use itself was not illegal in Japan. The test results and lifetime bans did not settle the brothers’ denials.