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

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.

“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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FILE - Mongolian grand champion Hakuho, left, topples champion Takayasu to win their bout during the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in Nagoya, central Japan, Friday, July 21, 2017. (Yoshiaki Sakamoto/Kyodo News, File)

Hakuho Sho, a retired "yokozuna" or grand champion of sumo Hakuho, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo, Monday, June 9, 2025, to deliver a farewell message following the reported acceptance of his resignation and to outline his future plans. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Hakuho Sho, a retired "yokozuna" or grand champion of sumo Hakuho, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo, Monday, June 9, 2025, to deliver a farewell message following the reported acceptance of his resignation and to outline his future plans. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko))

Hakuho Sho, a retired "yokozuna" or grand champion of sumo Hakuho, wipes his face during a press conference in Tokyo, Monday, June 9, 2025, to deliver a farewell message following the reported acceptance of his resignation and to outline his future plans. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Hakuho Sho, a retired “yokozuna” or grand champion of sumo, Hakuho, walks to the venue for a press conference in Tokyo, Monday, June 9, 2025, to deliver a farewell message following the reported acceptance of his resignation. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Hakuho Sho, a retired “yokozuna” or grand champion of sumo, Hakuho, bows during a press conference in Tokyo, Monday, June 9, 2025, to deliver a farewell message following the reported acceptance of his resignation. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

MALE, Maldives (AP) — Finnish divers on Tuesday recovered the bodies of two of the four remaining Italians who died deep inside an underwater cave in an atoll in the Maldives, an official said.

The bodies were located on Monday, when searches resumed after being suspended following the death of a local military diver during a perilous mission to try to reach them.

Five Italian divers went missing on Thursday, with one of the bodies recovered earlier. The plan is to recover the remaining two bodies on Wednesday.

The announcement that two bodies were recovered on Tuesday was made by presidential spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef.

Maldives government spokesman Ahmed Shaam had earlier said that the three Finnish divers would retrieve the bodies, which were lying at a depth of around 60 meters (200 feet). The legal depth for recreational diving in the Maldives is 30 meters (nearly 100 feet).

The government of the Indian Ocean island nation on Monday said that the bodies were spotted in the innermost part of the cave by the three Finnish diving experts, supported by the Maldives police and the military.

“As was previously thought, the four bodies were found inside the cave, not only inside the cave, but well inside the cave into the third segment of the cave, which is the largest part,” Shaam said.

He said that the four bodies were found “pretty much together."

The Divers’ Alert Network Europe, which deployed the three Finnish divers, said on its website that they are technical and cave divers with international experience in search and recovery missions, including operations in “deep overhead environments, confined spaces and high-risk scenarios.”

The team used advanced technical systems, including closed-circuit rebreathers, a system that recycles exhaled breathing gas and removes carbon dioxide through a chemical scrubber, allowing for “significantly longer dives,” the organization said.

The body of a fifth Italian — a diving instructor — was found earlier outside the cave on the day they were reported missing. The five were exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 meters (160 feet) in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to Italy’s Foreign Ministry.

Initial teams had already dived to identify and mark the entrance to the cave system where the Italians disappeared.

This image released by the Maldives President's Media Division, shows divers preparing to search for the four missing Italian divers near Alimathaa Island, Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, Saturday, May 15, 2026. (Maldives President's Media Division via AP)