Sumo: Asashoryu's car driver denies yokozuna's drunken rampage+

TOKYO, Feb. 2 Kyodo -
The head of a Japan Sumo Association panel investigating Asashoryu's alleged
drunken rampage said Tuesday the grand champion's driver has denied a recent
magazine report that the Mongolian broke a man's nose and caused him other
injuries in the car in the early hours of Jan. 16.

''The driver did not see Asashoryu slug the man. He said it was nothing like
what was reported,'' Tomozuna said after questioning the driver.
A weekly magazine called Friday reported two weeks ago that Asashoryu had been
''wrecked'' and slugged an acquaintance, originally believed to have been his
manager, outside a nightclub in Tokyo's Nishiazabu district.
Another tabloid-style magazine, Shukan Shincho, then reported that the man
attacked in the incident was actually in charge of a dance club where the
yokozuna had been drinking.
Shukan Shincho also said Asashoryu told the driver to move the car to the
river, threatening to kill the man there.
But the driver denied such a threat had been made, while admitting the two men
were intoxicated and scuffling, according to Tomozuna.
The committee chief added that what he heard from the driver and a report
submitted by Asashoryu's stablemaster Takasago are not contradictory.
Meanwhile, the sumo association has postponed its plans to discuss a possible
punishment for Asashoryu on Thursday.
Tomozuna said the investigative committee needs more time to find out the truth
and will provide only an interim report on that day, with a final report
expected around Feb. 10.
JSA Chairman Musashigawa and new board member Takanohana have said sumo's
governing body has to take punitive action against Asashoryu if the reports are
true.
==Kyodo
2010-02-02 22:59:02