Kitanoumi bows out as sumo chief

Tripped up by a scandal over marijuana use by three Russian wrestlers, Japan Sumo Association Chairman Kitanoumi announced Monday that he will resign.

Up in smoke: Japan Sumo Association Chairman Kitanoumi is surrounded by reporters Monday afternoon after announcing he was stepping down. Left: Russians Hakurozan (foreground) and Roho head to a JSA meeting in the morning to discuss how to prevent misconduct by sumo wrestlers. KYODO PHOTOS

The final shove apparently came Saturday, when the latest pair of Russian wrestlers — siblings Roho and Hakurozan — tested positive for marijuana. Kitanoumi, 55, is Hakurozan's stablemaster.

The JSA said it decided in an executive meeting to expel the two Russian wrestlers.

The association named sumo elder Musashigawa, 60, as Kitanoumi's successor.

"I am full of remorse because I needed to take care of (wrestlers) all the time and I would like to apologize to everyone," Kitanoumi said after his resignation offer was accepted. "They denied (smoking marijuana) and I believed it."

Kitanoumi, one of sumo's all-time yokozuna greats with 24 tournament victories, assumed the association's top post in February 2002 and was re-elected to his fourth term after the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in January.

He is the first chairman to step down before completing his term, according to the JSA.

The scandal broke last month with the arrest and subsequent lifetime ban of wrestler Wakanoho, whom police claim had a small amount of marijuana in his wallet. Wakanoho has admitted to marijuana possession.

The Russian was the first wrestler ever kicked out of the sport for drug use. His real name is listed by the sumo association as Soslan Aleksandrovich Gagloev.

In an internal investigation prompted by his arrest, Roho and Hakurozan tested positive for the drug.

A second test was conducted by Mitsubishi Chemical Medience Corp. a lab internationally certified to conduct doping tests.

Test results released Friday showed that Roho and Hakurozan consumed the drug in amounts far beyond what could be inhaled from secondhand smoke, JSA spokesman Yuichi Ida said.

The JSA, which oversees the sport, said all 69 wrestlers in the top two divisions have been tested for marijuana and two kinds of stimulants.

Roho, 28, whose real name is Boradzov Soslan Feliksovich, is listed as the No. 3 maegashira in the top makuuchi division for the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament getting under way at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Sunday. His 26-year-old brother, Hakurozan, or Baradzov Batraz Feliksovich, is in the second-tier juryo division. Roho has publicly denied using the drug. Hakurozan has made a similar denial.

JSA officials said both Roho and Hakurozan received explanations about their test results Monday but reiterated their innocence.

Critics have pointed to the sloppy nature of the steps the JSA has taken since Wakanoho's arrest, saying tests were hastily conducted even though no rules have been established on doping in the sport. On Sunday, Roho's lawyer, Yasuo Shionoya, attacked the credibility of the tests, saying there is no proof that Roho's sample was actually tested, and therefore a second set of samples they submitted should not be tested. Shionoya also said secondhand smoke can't be ruled out, adding his client has no intention of accepting disciplinary action by the JSA.