2008 sumo cannabis scandal

Since 2007, scandals and allegations about professional sumo have occasionally occurred. In February 2007, the Japanese magazine Shūkan Gendai reported allegations of yaocho (match fixing). The JSA sued the magazine for $4 million. In August 2007, Asashōryū, the yokozuna ranked Mongolian wrestler, was suspended from the next two tournaments due to faking injuries. It was the first case that yokozuna received such a punishment. On July 26, 2007 Asashōryū played in a charity soccer event in Mongolia despite having submitted a medical report about his injuries before. His injuries were regarded as having been faked in order to avoid the summer regional tour, and so the JSA decided to suspend him from the next two tournaments and cut his salary. According to the Japan Today, the chairman of the JSA Kitanoumi was often censured seriously by the media for his irresponsible reaction in these cases. ==Scandals of four wrestlers==

Wakanohō On August 18, 2008, Wakanohō Toshinori was arrested for possession of cannabis. He became the first active sekitori to be arrested. On August 21, the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) held a meeting of the board of directors and decided to dismiss him. Tsuneo Suzuki, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, told the JSA to swiftly appoint external directors. and on September 12 the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office decided to suspend an indictment, probably because he was a minor at that time, had not been arrested before, and had only a small amount of cannabis. On September 11, he filed a suit against the JSA for dismissing him and applied for provisional disposition, insisting that his penalty was much heavier than previous cases of misconduct in sumo. On September 29, he hold a press conference and claimed that "I was forcibly handed money to fight unfair bouts." He made an immediate appeal against the sentence, but Tokyo High Court also dismissed it on December 9. He withdrew a suit and decided to go back to Russia in February 2009. Rohō and Hakurozan On September 2, 2008, the JSA published that the unannounced drug test by urinalysis for sekitori, 69 wrestlers in the sport's top two divisions, showed that Rohō Yukio and Hakurozan Yūta, brothers from Russia, were positive for cannabis. On September 8, the JSA decided to dismiss them, Their stablemasters also lost their positions. Kitanoumi Toshimitsu, the coach of Hakurozan, resigned his post as chairman of the JSA to accept responsibility, and Ōtake stablemaster, the coach of Rohō, was demoted from the committee member to toshiyori, the lowest rank of stablemasters. and the trial began on February 6, 2009. On April 19, 2010, the Tokyo District Court rejected their claim, In addition, they claimed 100 million yen compensation for the inappropriate process of drug tests and dismiss, but Tokyo District Court also rejected it on December 10, 2010. He was the first Japanese wrestler in these scandals. On April 22, 2009, Yokohama District Court gave him 10 months' imprisonment with a three years' stay of execution. ==See also==