Japanese sumo champ retires over alleged assault


FE Team | Published: November 29, 2017 13:03:04 | Updated: December 01, 2017 12:49:45


Sumo grand champion Harumafuji (Reuters Photo)

Sumo grand champion Harumafuji has said he will retire from the sport, in a scandal that has rocked Japan's highly ceremonial sport.

Harumafuji is being investigated for an alleged assault on a junior wrestler, with his palms, fists and a remote control, Japanese media said.

The 33-year old Mongolian has since apologised for "causing trouble".

Japan's sumo world has been hit by scandals involving violence, mafia links and match fixing in recent years.

Harumafuji started his career in Japan at the age of 16 and was promoted to grand champion or yokozuna - sumo's highest rank - in 2012.

Harumafuji's apology came after local media reported he had beaten junior wrestler Takanoiwa during a drinking session with other wrestlers, says a BBC report.

Takanoiwa had to be hospitalised after suffering a concussion and a fractured skull base in the incident, local media reported.

A spokesperson for Japan's Sumo Association (JSA) said Harumafuji's coach Isegahama had told the JSA on Wednesday of the wrestler's decision to quit.

At a Monday press conference, a speaker for an advisory body to the JSA had said the case required "extremely harsh punishment" but that no final decision had been made yet.

"There is almost no doubting that an act of violence was carried out," he said.

The incident follows a string of similar scandals and reports of violence.

In 2016, a wrestler and his coach had to pay nearly $300,000 (£230,000) to a fellow fighter they allegedly abused so badly he lost sight in one eye, according to reports.

Thirteen senior wrestlers were implicated in a match fixing scandal in 2011 while a year earlier, the sport was rocked by alleged links between sumo wrestlers and the mafia-like yakuza crime syndicates.

Another Mongolian grand champion retired from the sport in 2010 after reports of his involvement in a drunken brawl.

In 2007, a teenage novice died after he was beaten up by older wrestlers in a case exposing a culture of bullying and hazing within the traditional sport's strict hierarchy.

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