In the past six months, four wrestlers have been kicked out of the ancient sport for allegedly smoking marijuana, creating the biggest drugs-in-sports scandal that Japan has ever seen.
Although three of the wrestlers who have been expelled from the sport were from Russia, the arrest last week of a 25-year-old Japanese athlete who goes by the ring name of Wakakirin for possession of marijuana has raised concern that use of the drug may be more widespread than originally thought.
More than being simply a drug issue, however, the scandal has been amplified by the fact that it involves one of the world’s oldest and most tradition-bound sports — and one that is solidly rooted in religious purification ritual.
Sumo wrestlers are expected to live the old-school life of a disciple. They wear their hair in topknots, dress in traditional robes and train in communal “stables.” Their schedules are tightly regulated and the word of their coaches, who are still called “masters,” is absolute and final.
Moving quickly to ease criticism, the Japan Sumo Association, which oversees the professional sport, voted this week to dismiss Wakakirin, whose legal name is Shinichi Suzukawa.
With Wakakirin’s arrest, officials now say they will further beef up doping tests for marijuana and stimulants. Marijuana is not considered a performance-enhancing drug.
Wakakirin reportedly became interested in marijuana after reading about it in magazines and seeing others smoking it at hip-hop clubs.
Hmm… when your sport requires you to be really, really fat, and not move from one spot, couldn’t marijuana be considered a performance-enhancing drug? See, this is why our Founding Fathers were so wise to institute a separation of church and sport in this country! ;-)
