All-time great wrestler Hakuho quits Japan Sumo Association with plans to form global body

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TOKYO (AP) — Hakuho, a retired “yokozuna” or grand champion and viewed by many as the sport’s greatest wrestler, has quit the Japan Sumo Association after an apparent falling out with the governing body of the ancient sport.

He made it official on Monday.

The Mongolia-born Hakuho was earlier sanctioned by the Japan Sumo Association, accused of failing to control the behavior of a wrestler in his so-called stable, the term used for a training team headed by retired wrestlers.

Hakuho’s stable was closed a year ago. Japanese media reports say the wrestler in question engaged in physical violence. But closing a stable, instead of just punishing an individual wrestler, was unusual.

He did not directly criticize the professional Japan Sumo Association, but he said wrestlers who had trained under him were treated unfairly.

Hakuho, who was granted Japanese citizenship, said he had been in talks with the association but recently decided to quit because there was no hope of reopening his stable.

His farewell and future

“After 25 years of loving sumo and being loved by sumo, I want to advance toward a new dream,” Hakuho told reporters Monday at a Tokyo hotel.

Hakuho said he wants to create a body to govern sumo outside Japan — the “world sumo project.” He called it a “new dream” to “expand sumo to the world.”

“When I think of my situation, I think it’s best to contribute to sumo from the outside,” he said, wearing a dark suit and referring to the Japan Sumo Association.

The Japan Sumo Association declined comment on Hakuho resignation and plans.

Appearing with a lawyer and other officials he had tapped for his team, Hakuho said they were getting corporate sponsors to back sumo grand slams, which draw amateur sumo wrestlers from around the world, including children and women.

Hakuho said he was friends with Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Akio Toyoda, who has expressed interest in supporting his efforts. Toyota already supports various amateur and professional sports activities.

Toyota confirmed Toyoda’s friendship with Hakuho.

“He (Hakuho) is devoted to trying to bring the world closer together through sumo,” the company quoted Toyoda as saying in a statement.

Many regard the Mongolia-born Hakuho as the greatest champion in the sport’s history and he holds many of its records.

Hakuho’s late-father, who went by the given name of Monkhbat, was an Olympic silver medalist for Mongolia in 1968. He also competed in at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Sumo encompasses very strict rules and traditions that have prompted other top wrestlers to pursue careers outside the sport.

Hakuho retired from active wrestling in 2021.

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