Former yokozuna Hakuho, who assumed the name Miyagino when he took over the stable of the same name and became a sumo elder, left the Japan Sumo Association Monday, saying later in the day that his distrust for the body led him to quit and start a new international project aimed at amateur sumo wrestlers.

The impetus for the decision, Hakuho said, was the failure of the JSA to provide a clear timeline about the restoration of Miyagino stable, which was shut down in late March 2024 amid a bullying scandal involving one of its wrestlers.

¡°April marked a full year after the stable shut down, but there was no specific date (on when the stable will resume) which was a big reason for me to quit,¡± said Hakuho, who returned to Japan from Mongolia, his home country, on Saturday.

In a statement last week, the JSA said there had been discussions with Hakuho and other board members about restoring the stable after the next November Basho, trying to persuade him to stay on but without success.

Isegahama oyakata, better known as former yokozuna Asahifuji, was quoted as saying in the statement that Hakuho seemed to be ¡°less passionate¡± in training junior wrestlers, apparently because his mind was elsewhere, with him considering his resignation.

¡°I had wavered, and it may have shown in my words and actions since March,¡± Hakuho said.

The Miyagino stable shut down after one of its wrestlers, Hokuseiho, was found to have been regularly beating two junior wrestlers in the stable. In February 2024, Hakuho was demoted two ranks and received a pay cut for failing to prevent the abuse.

When Miyagino stable was closed, its wrestlers joined Isegahama stable with the hope that the JSA would restore their original home in the future.

Media reports said the Isegahama stable¡¯s decision to allow former yokozuna Terunofuji, Hakuho¡¯s junior, to become its oyakata was the final nail in the coffin for the former sumo great.

Hakuho denied those reports, saying, ¡°I have no bad feelings about being under Terunofuji.¡±

Hakuho also received proposals for him and his wrestlers to join Asakayama stable during the last phase of the Summer Basho, which ran for two weeks through May 25, but nothing was certain, he said.

The JSA¡¯s rigid rules, such as allowing only one foreign sumo wrestler per stable, also led Hakuho to seek a different, more flexible platform to spread sumo around the world.

¡°There are many young sumo wrestlers (overseas) who want to join stables in Japan,¡± he said. ¡°I want to support them.¡±

What Hakuho has in mind is to host international amateur sumo matches based on his experience of hosting the...