Sumo’s top-ranked referee last month allegedly sexually harassed a teenage referee, Japanese media reported yesterday.
While drunk on the night of Dec. 16, Shikimori Inosuke, 58, allegedly molested his male junior by kissing him and touching his chest at a hotel in Okinawa, where sumo wrestlers were making a winter tour, public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News said.
The top referee, whose real name is Itsuo Nouchi, apologized to his junior for the harassment, NHK and Kyodo said, quoting Japan Sumo Association officials.
“I don’t remember anything, as I was heavily drunk,” Shikimori said, according to Jiji Press. “I don’t know why I did such an act.”
The junior referee has no plans to file a police report, but the association is expected to take disciplinary action, local media said.
“It’s embarrassing, as he is in a position to supervise others as the top referee,” association chairman Hakkaku said, according to NHK.
Confirmation of the news reports was not immediately available.
The association vowed to take preventive measures against scandals, after former sumo grand champion Harumafuji was last month charged for assaulting a rival wrestler while out drinking.
The Mongolian former yokozuna, sumo’s highest rank, faced a summary indictment, meaning he was fined ¥500,000 (US$4,420), but exempted from standing trial.
The indictment came nearly a month after he stepped down, apologizing for the embarrassment caused by a violent outburst in October last year that left countryman Takanoiwa with a fractured skull.
Yokozuna are expected to be beyond moral reproach, but the writing was on the wall for Harumafuji after he confessed to hitting Takanoiwa for texting his girlfriend while he was scolding him over his poor attitude.
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