A disgraced Russian sumo wrestler yesterday threatened to lift the lid on drug use, match-fixing and other “evil things” plaguing the ancient sport.
Soslan Gagloev, 20, rose quickly through the ranks under the ring name Wakanoho, but was thrown out last month for marijuana possession and has since tried unsuccessfully to return.
Wakanoho has since filed a lawsuit, demanding the association reinstate him as a sumo wrestler and pay his monthly salary until he is hired back.
“The current sumo world is dirty and I wouldn’t be able to forgive it even if I can return,” he told reporters through a translator.
“I was forced to play unfair matches in return for money as soon as I entered makuuchi,” the highest echelon of the sumo ranks, he said. “I was forced to accept money and put in unfair bouts.”
“My stable master and others knew [about bout-fixing] but nobody stepped in because they had also been playing unfair matches themselves,” Gagloev said.
He said other stable masters and wrestlers were smoking marijuana but not being punished.
He did not name names in the 10-minute press conference, but said he was ready to testify in court to back the publisher of a magazine that accused grand champion Asashoryu and others of fixing matches.
“I also want to tell all other evil things that I know,” he said, adding he wanted to clean up the sport.
In tests conducted by the Japan Sumo Association, two other Russians — Roho and Hakurozan — also tested positive for the drug. They were expelled and the head of the sumo association resigned.
On Monday, Wakanoho told reporters it was unfair that only the three Russians were punished over the drug scandal.
“How come those Japanese trainers and wrestlers who are the ones smoking marijuana are not punished?” he asked, without elaborating.
The sumo association has previously denied bout-fixing allegations. It had no immediate comment on Wakanoho’s accusations yesterday.
Asashoryu, a Mongolian, has flatly denied match-fixing. He has joined other wrestlers and the association in a libel suit against Japan’s top publisher Kodansha, seeking tens of millions of yen in damages.
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