Kwansei Gakuin University Denies Marijuana Allegations Against American Football Team Amidst Association’s Official Statement

Once again, suspicions of illegal drug use have emerged in the college American football scene.

On August 30, the Japan American Football Association announced disciplinary actions against five players from Kwansei Gakuin University’s American football team, citing “serious disciplinary violations.” One of the players was given an indefinite suspension of Japan national team selection qualifications for possessing and using a substance believed to contain marijuana.

“The violations by the five players occurred during the U-20 World Championship held in Canada between June and July this year. The decision to not call them to represent the national team in the future is an extremely severe punishment. In addition to the player with the suspension of national team qualification, the other four players received strict warnings and temporary suspensions (1 to 2 years) of their national team selection qualifications. Among these, one player with more severe violations was advised by the association to be suspended from participating in external matches for six months.

Kwansei Gakuin University’s American football team, the ‘Fighters,’ is a prestigious team that has repeatedly been crowned the best in Japan. The university held a press conference on the same day, where head coach Kazuki Omura and others explained the situation and apologized.” (National newspaper sports department reporter)

 

“Famous in Kansai”

Two months have passed since the incident was first reported, but the suspicion had already been circulating in the Kansai college American football scene. An American football insider from another university reveals:

“After returning from the World Championship, within a month, there were rumors that ‘a national team player reportedly used marijuana in Canada since it’s legal there.’ I heard that it took time to decide how to respond and what disciplinary actions to take, and while some other insiders were saying, ‘This can’t be true, right?'”

Recently, there has been a frequent occurrence of drug use suspicions in the college American football scene.

Last summer, it was revealed that a student from Nihon University’s American football team had used illegal drugs in the dormitory. Ultimately, 11 people, including alumni, were arrested and sent to prosecutors. Taking this seriously, Nihon University decided to disband the American football team. Additionally, in February of this year, drug use was reported among three members of Hosei University’s American football team.

To overcome drug contamination, the association has repeatedly held clinics and training sessions on illegal drugs. Given that such issues have now emerged among Japan’s representative players, the shock is likely significant.

This time it was the football association that announced the punishment, since it was a violation of the rules during the national team period. The release on the official website, “Disposition of Five

Since the violations occurred during the representative period, the announcement of disciplinary actions was made by the American Football Association. On their official website, under the release titled “Disciplinary Actions Against 5 U20 National Team Players,”

“One player was found to have possessed and used a substance with a likelihood of containing marijuana. As a result, their eligibility to be selected for the national team has been indefinitely suspended, and the association has recommended the university to impose an indefinite suspension on the player’s activities.”

Thus, it is clearly stated.

However, Kwansei Gakuin University outright denied the association’s announcement during a press conference, stating, “After returning to Japan, we conducted urine tests on all players, and they all tested negative.” The team’s activities are continuing, and the league match scheduled for today, September 3, is set to proceed as planned.

During the two months before the public announcement, both the association and the university must have been conducting investigations and negotiating over the disciplinary actions. Despite this, why did their final stances end up being completely opposite? It is said that a “significant rift” between Kwansei Gakuin University and the association is involved. An American football alumnus from another university whispers:

“Kwansei Gakuin University is a team so exceptional that the term ‘stronghold’ doesn’t quite capture it. They are on a six-year winning streak in the Koshien Bowl, which determines the best university team in Japan. Additionally, other strong teams are also located in Kansai. Looking at the Koshien Bowl winners over the past 15 years, only Nihon University won in 2017, with the rest being Kansai universities. The Kansai League’s championship game is essentially like the Koshien Bowl.

Due to this ‘West High, East Low’ structure, adjustments to the regional selection slots have been made frequently since 2009. Starting this year, the number of slots for Kansai League teams has expanded, allowing the top three to participate. Correspondingly, the Kanto League’s slots have also expanded to the top three. However, the Koshien Bowl final will likely be a matchup between Kansai teams. There’s a prevalent rumor that Kwansei Gakuin University had a role in this change in the selection slots. They have such influence that the association sees them as a thorn in their side, leading to a difficult negotiation process that resulted in completely opposing stances.”

The current U-20 national team includes players from the former Nihon University American football team, which was disbanded and has lost its place. If these players turned to drugs right in front of the Kwansei Gakuin University team, it would be an extraordinary act of betrayal. Additionally, considering that Coach Omura from Kwansei Gakuin University was also accompanying the team as a coach during the World Championship, the situation cannot be brushed off as irrelevant to the university because it happened during the representative period.

In sports, matches are fought seriously because of the rules, and breaking these rules results in penalties. The same applies to society.