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September 8, 2008 6:49 PM
by Chisa Fujioka
TOKYO - The head of Japan's sumo association has resigned in the wake of a string of scandals to hit the ancient sport, including suspicions that wrestlers had smoked marijuana.
Two Russian wrestlers tested positive for marijuana last week, setting off a media frenzy about the sport, which historians say dates back 2000 years.
Roho and Hakurozan, who are brothers, denied smoking the drug, but the tests came shortly after another Russian wrestler was arrested and fired for suspected marijuana possession.
"I caused trouble to the sumo association and to fans, so
I have resigned," Kitanoumi, chairman of the Japan Sumo
Association, told a news conference after a meeting of the
sport's top officials.
Both Roho and Hakurozan have been expelled from the
sport, an official said.
Kitanoumi, a sumo great in the 1970s and head of the
gym where Hakurozan trains, faced growing speculation
that he would step down to take responsibility for the
latest problems and other recent scandals that have dented
the sport's popularity.
Last year, the head of a training gym was arrested on
suspicion of assault leading to the death of a teenage trainee
who had talked about quitting.
The incident put a spotlight on the harsh training
practices and the closed, rigid society of the male-only sport,
in which burly wrestlers wearing only loincloths tussle in a
rope-lined ring.
Also last year, one of the sport's highest-ranked stars,
Asashoryu, sparked an uproar when he was filmed playing in a
charity soccer match in his native Mongolia after pulling out
of a tour in Japan citing a back injury.
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