Banned wrestler goes for the jugular in sumo row

Soslan Aleksandrovich Gagloev, who fought under the name of Wakanoho, was fired by the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) earlier this month after police arrested him on suspicion of possessing a small amount of marijuana.

His dismissal marked the first time a wrestler had been kicked out of sumo in its 2,000-year history, and was quickly followed by two more Russians testing positive for the drug.

Wakanoho, who has launched a legal case against the JSA, seeking compensation for loss of earnings and the right to return to the sport, called a press conference in Tokyo yesterday to make his claims.

"I was forcibly handed money to fight unfair bouts," the 20-year-old wrestler said. "If I refused to take the money, I was bullied.

"I want to make the world of sumo clean again," he claimed.

"As far as marijuana is concerned, the bosses and wrestlers who are smoking it are not being punished," he alleged. "I will say more about the bad things in sumo in the future."

The timing of Wakanoho's claims will have caused consternation in the halls of power at the association, which has previously denied bout-fixing allegations. There was no immediate comment on Wakanoho's accusations yesterday.

The image of sumo, which historians say dates back 2,000 years and retains traditional Shinto religious overtones, has taken a battering of late.

Last year, the head of one gym was arrested on suspicion of assault leading to the death of a teenage trainee who had talked about quitting. The case sent shockwaves across the country as his father spoke of the boy's battered body and prompted the Japanese government to order sumo to clean up its act. "There is a lot of this goes on in the sumo world, and most people would call it bullying, but sumo says it is merely part of the toughening-up process," said Fred Varcoe, a journalist who has covered the sport for 20 years.

"It is regarded as the sacred sport of Japan, but underneath that decorative, ritualistic surface there is a lot of dirt."

In another scandal last year, one of sumo's biggest names, Asashoryu, swapped his loincloth for a pair of football boots to play in a charity game in his native Mongolia after having withdrawn from a regional sumo tour complaining of injury.

In 2002, questions were asked in the Japanese parliament about sumo wrestlers taking performance-enhancing drugs designed to give them the perfect combination of power and speed.

Kenshiro Matsunami, a member of the New Conservative Party, pointed out that the average weight of a wrestler has increased by 40kg in the past four decades, and they now generally weigh 155kg (24st).

The feeling in Japan is that Wakanoho's latest allegations are little more than a case of sour grapes from a man expelled from the sport after being caught taking drugs, but if his claims are substantiated in court, then a sport with Olympic ambitions is likely to find itself in even deeper trouble than it is at present.

FACT BOX

Sumo, one of Japan's oldest and most famous martial arts, has its roots in the shinto religion. The matches were dedicated to the gods in prayers for a good harvest.

The oldest written records date back to the eighth century but it is actually thought to be more than 2,000 years old.

Life as a sumo wrestler – or rikishi – in Japan is highly regimented, with rules laid down by the Japanese Sumo Association.

Professional sumo wrestlers are required to live in communal "stables" – known in Japanese as heya – where all aspects of their daily lives, from meals to their manner of dress, are dictated by strict tradition.

The winner of a sumo bout is either the first wrestler to force his opponent to step out of the ring, or the first wrestler to force his opponent to touch the ground with any part of his body other than the bottom of his feet.