Sayonara Roho and Hakurozan

[Takechanpoo]

[Buraku]

Heard about this first and just thought its another one of those silly fucking gaijins getting caught with drugs. However after seeing they were "Ossetian" and with all this Georgia shit going on I can't help but think there is something politically motivated going on.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Fucking bullshit. Because of Wakanoho all Russians were tested. I wonder how untested Jap wrestlers are on illegal substances.

[IkemenTommy]

Fucking bullshit. Because of Wakanoho all Russians were tested. I wonder how untested Jap wrestlers are on illegal substances.

You would think that they would be on the more hard-core shit like steroids instead weed. I bet you a dime that the sumo authorities don't give a damn about drug abusing on the dohyo. These testings were done to target just the foreigners.

[Behan]

I agree Ikemen. Smoking weed isn't going to give you a competitive advantage.

[American Oyaji]

You would think that they would be on the more hard-core shit like steroids instead weed. I bet you a dime that the sumo authorities don't give a damn about drug abusing on the dohyo. These testings were done to target just the foreigners.

What was your first clue?

[Greji]

Heard about this first and just thought its another one of those silly fucking gaijins getting caught with drugs. However after seeing they were "Ossetian" and with all this Georgia shit going on I can't help but think there is something politically motivated going on.

There might be some over reaction here. Sumo has been taking it in the shorts lately because of all the scandals and they obviously want to show they're on top of all incidents now.

We don't know the whole story yet, but it appeared that they jumped on a first test positive. Most drug testing in athletics and even in horse racing require dual, or the so-called split sample testing because there are in fact so many false positives. It is interesting that these two sumokas happen to be brothers (correct me if I'm wrong on that). It could indicate a genetic factor in the testing as well.

The Russki's were on TV this morning demanding a re-test by competent authorities (what do they have to lose?) and I would assume that could be forthcoming. If they were in fact, false positives, sumo is going to have egg on its face again. It could be fun to watch.

[canman]

While I don't usually believe in conspiracy theories, it does seem that most of the scandals are involving the foreign wrestlers. And I think for a lot of us the misdeeds seem to be rather mild, in comparison to killing another wrestler, but I guess it is a lot easier to find something like a positive drug test and then blame the foreigners for the troubles in sumo.

[Behan]

While I don't usually believe in conspiracy theories, it does seem that most of the scandals are involving the foreign wrestlers. And I think for a lot of us the misdeeds seem to be rather mild, in comparison to killing another wrestler, but I guess it is a lot easier to find something like a positive drug test and then blame the foreigners for the troubles in sumo.

Good point, Canman.

How can the crime (?) of getting high compare to beating someone to death with baseball bats and beer bottles?:confused:

[Mulboyne]

It's easy to forget just how bad a drugs accusation is in Japan - or, more specifically, in the media in Japan. It ends careers and there have been a number of recent cases involving well-known Japanese actors, musicians and writers. There was also a good deal of fall out from those two university rugby players caught growing dope.

In this sumo case, the original drugs bust was the guy who dropped his wallet so no-one was specifically out to get him, he screwed up all on his own. When water pipes were found at his stable the sumo authorities decided to institute a random test of a large number of wrestlers and the two Russian brothers turned up positive. Certainly it's possible that someone asked the testers to keep a close eye on them because of their connection to Wakanoho. but they weren't specifically targeted. If their results are confirmed then I'm not sure you can accuse the authorities of deliberately making foreigners scapegoats for the woes in the sport: as far as they are concerned, that's just a happy side effect. It doesn't help that drug allegations against rugby player Kasprowicz have surfaced at the same time.

When a person works for a reputable organization in Japan, his misdeeds aren't just an individual problem, they also reflect on the organization. That's why the Mainichi formally apologizes when one of their newspaper delivery guys is arrested for groping; why NHK apologizes when a reporter is arrested for shoplifting and why a university apologizes when a faculty member is pulled over for drunk driving. Wakanoho's drugs bust started a process that would have happened if it had been Japanese wrestler caught.

Where the authorities have been poor is releasing full details of positive results without confirming them. As Greji says, this puts them in an awkward position if the results are not confirmed and would be unfair to the brothers.

[Samurai_Jerk]

You would think that they would be on the more hard-core shit like steroids.

Actually, years ago, I heard from a fairly trusted source that a lot of those guys are using 'roids. Wouldn't surprise me.

[MaxPower]

Actually, years ago, I heard from a fairly trusted source that a lot of those guys are using 'roids. Wouldn't surprise me.

I've often wondered about this myself. I always assumed they did. You can see the power even through the fat. They would probably look just like bodybuilders if they cut down.

[IkemenTommy]

You know, they could've easily used such accusations as sexual harassment on these guys and they wouldn't be able to defend themselves. The only thing is, there aren't any OL's in the sumo world to manipulate with so they had to use something like drugs to be the culprit. Poor gaijins.

[xenomorph42]

You know, they could've easily used such accusations as sexual harassment on these guys and they wouldn't be able to defend themselves. The only thing is, there aren't any OL's in the sumo world to manipulate with so they had to use something like drugs to be the culprit. Poor gaijins.

I just think the media is making waaay to much hoopla over this. There is a certain standard in Sumo, I got, I got, but these guys are being treated as if they're convicted of murder or rape. To a small point, I feel a little bad, that they have to go through the ringer like this, on the other hand...Yea, it's partly the guys fault, you don't carry a spliff with you in your wallet, especially, in a country that is anal like Japan, that's just asking for trouble. So now, they're going to make an example out of them.
Cops in Japan really don't have a lot to do, so something like this, they will lap it up all the way! Sitting in the Koban all day, writing tickets and catching bicycle thieves, this is a frenzy moment for these guys and they will milk that cow until it's bone dry.

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: Russian wrestlers deny smoking cannabis

Two Russian sumo wrestlers who tested positive for cannabis denied using the drug Wednesday. Roho, 28, and his brother Hakurozan, 26, were among 69 sumo wrestlers subjected to a surprise test Tuesday by the Japan Sumo Association. Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department searched three locations, including the wrestlers' respective stables, from late Tuesday to early Wednesday. No drugs or related paraphernalia were found, police said. Tokyo police also questioned the wrestlers on a voluntary basis for about three hours Tuesday night.

The Japan Sumo Association conducted the tests after Wakanoho, another Russian wrestler, was arrested Aug. 18 on suspicion of possessing a reefer cigarette containing cannabis. The 20-year-old has been expelled from the sport. His stablemaster has resigned as director of the sumo association. "I have never seen nor touched marijuana," Roho told reporters in front of his Otake stable in Tokyo's Koto Ward at 10:30 a.m. He said he had been taking medicine and painkiller shots for lower-back pain, which rendered him immobile for several days. Hakurozan, who met reporters in front of his Kitanoumi stable around 1:20 a.m., also categorically denied he used marijuana. The brothers also denied they might have passively inhaled the drug as second-hand smoke.

The Kitanoumi stable, also in Koto Ward, is headed by Kitanoumi, a former yokozuna grand champion who now serves as chairman of the Japan Sumo Association. Tuesday's snap tests were conducted on 69 sumo wrestlers in the sport's top two divisions, called makuuchi and juryo. Roho, No. 3 maegashira in the makuuchi division, took the test three times, and Hakurozan, who wrestles in the juryo division, twice. All results were positive. The simple tests, designed to detect marijuana use within the previous two to three days, can produce erroneous results, association officials acknowledged.

The brothers asked for further examinations, and the sumo association took their urine samples for a full-fledged test. Once the samples are submitted to a testing laboratory, results could be available within 48 hours, the officials said. The brothers were close to Wakanoho, according to investigation sources. The three were seen frequenting pubs with Russian hostesses in Tokyo's Kinshicho district or discos in the Roppongi district, the sources said.

[Behan]

I know this is not so relevant but the sumo wrestlers' case reminded me of this:

Canadian Snowboarder Retains Olympic Gold Medal After Testing Positive For Marijuana; Canadian Debate on Marijuana Decriminalization Prompted MARIJUANA
February 1998

Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati, 26, won the men's giant slalom on February 8 in the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. After Rebagliati tested positive for marijuana -- 17.8 nanograms of metabolite per milliliter -- the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped him of his gold medal on February 10. The following day, the IOC returned the medal, saying it did not have the power to take it ...
The Olympic Court for Arbitration of Sport (CAS) voted unanimously to reinstate Rebagliati's gold medal. The Court ruled that the IOC did not have an agreement with the International Ski Federation regarding marijuana use and therefore did not have the authority to strip the medal. "It's purely the legal issue. It's not our role to examine the social issues at this stage," said Jean Philippe Rochat, secretary general of the CAS. "It's a clear message that if the international sports body wants such rules, it has to specify clearly that marijuana is a forbidden substance," Rochat said.

[canman]

Behan I was thinking the same thing. Why don't they just say that they were in the same room as the other Russian wrestler when he was toking up. They must have inhaled some of the second hand smoke, that is why they tested positive. Hell it worked and saved a precious gold medal for Canada, so why not give it a try.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I take it back. They actually surprise tested a lot of wrestlers. I assumed because when the Wakanoho story broke they said at the press conference they were going to test all the Russians.

[Mulboyne]

Press reports say the second tests came back positive.

[Marked Trail]

The Russki's were on TV this morning demanding a re-test by competent authorities (what do they have to lose?) and I would assume that could be forthcoming. If they were in fact, false positives, sumo is going to have egg on its face again.

As an added note, Russians, Poles, Czechs, etc. often test positive for opiates because they are fond of pastries with poppy seed custard fillings.

[Mike Oxlong]

Well, the WADA-approved lab tested the samples. A and B samples both positive, and at levels so high that second-hand smoke isn't even a remote possibility. Despite lawyers being hired, threats of going to their own embassy for justice, and denials and misinformation being tossed left, right, and centre, the Chairman of the Japan Sumo Association (and Hakurozan's stable master) resigned today. The long list of scandals on his watch finally caught up with him.

[halfnip]

Dudes are idiots... I have seen them smoke out first hand. Whether or not smoking out gives you a competitive advantage or not, it's still illegal so it would be pretty stupid to try to justify this after the fact..

Smoke that shiiet in the off season like the rest of the sports world...

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Sumo Association Chairman Kitanoumi to quit over drug scandal

Japan Sumo Association Chairman Kitanoumi is set to resign over a marijuana scandal involving Russian wrestlers, sources close to the association said. Kitanoumi told a board meeting of the association that he will step down to take responsibility for the drug scandal. In August, wrestler Wakanoho, a Russian national, was arrested for possessing marijuana and was dismissed from the association. Earlier this month, Russian wrestler Roho and his brother Hakurozan tested positive for marijuana in two screenings. However, they denied that they smoked the illegal drug. Kitanoumi said he trusts the wrestlers, drawing criticism even from within the association

If another set of tests do come back positive, the association is in no man's land. They could throw out the other wrestler because he admitted drug use and was under police investigation. However, they don't appear to have any protocol regarding drug testing and what do do in the event of a positive result so they are making it up as they go along.

[Takechanpoo]

By the way, Wakanoho, Roho and Hakurozan, they are all Ossetian.
Ossetian like to smoke marijuana so much?:confused:

[Takechanpoo]

[Mulboyne]

...Ossetian like to smoke marijuana so much?:confused

Marijuana was decriminalized in Russia in 2004 just as it was in Britain. That doesn't mean it was made legal, rather that police will, in general, not arrest you for possession of marijuana for personal use. They still retain the authority to arrest you but will mostly not do so unless they suspect you are a dealer. You can also still get some minor penalties. One of the reasons Russia decriminalized marijuana is because it had become so widely used. I've heard claims that The Russian army developed a serious drug habit during the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. Alcoholism remains a major health problem in Russia and some would argue that marijuana is the lesser of the two evils. I can't say whether such thinking played a role in the decriminalization.

Notwithstanding that, the wrestlers weren't being very smart if they were indeed smoking marijuana in Japan because the country does not have any kind of blind-eye policy.

[Samurai_Jerk]

A brotha made me do it

Sacked Russian sumo wrestler Roho told a member of the Japan Sumo Association preventative measures deliberation committee that he obtained marijuana while on a tour of Los Angeles, it has emerged.

Roho made the statement after he and his brother Hakurozan tested positive for cannabis in a simple test carried out by the committee on Sept. 2, sources close to the investigation said.

"I obtained marijuana from a black singer during the tour of Los Angeles (in June)," the wrestler was quoted as saying.

It looks like Roho really took to white American culture quickly. It usually takes years to learn the blame-an-anonymous-negro defence.

[Midwinter]

A brotha made me do it



It looks like Roho really took to white American culture quickly. It usually takes years to learn the blame-an-anonymous-negro defence.

So he's busted for possesion and then inadvertently admits the illegal importation of said illicit substance as well. Good work Roho!

*insert usual Takechanpoo flame here*

[sublight]

I agree Ikemen. Smoking weed isn't going to give you a competitive advantage.

Don't underestimate the power of the munchies...

I heard on the news that drug testing was done on just 60-odd wrestlers after Hakurozan got busted (there are well over 500 when you get down to the lower ranks). Any guesses as to which 60 were picked out?

[Mike Oxlong]

They tested all the guys in the top two divisions - all the salaried folk.