Marijuana man's Japan ban stands
Japan’s Rugby Union chiefs have turned down a plea from coach John Kirwan to bring back Christian Loamanu for his World Cup squad, despite an indefinite ban on the player for alleged marijuana use.
Kirwan, an All Black legend, earlier said he hoped to see the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) lift the ban on the 24-year-old Tongan-born wing when it holds an executive committee meeting on March 24.
“It won’t happen,” JRFU public relations official Yusuke Kuwano said.
“The Loamanu case basically won’t be taken up by the meeting.
“The union has reached a conclusion on the matter,” Kuwano told AFP, adding that Kirwan had accepted the decision.
Kirwan announced his preliminary 41-strong squad, excluding Loamanu, on Monday for the rugby World Cup in New Zealand in September and October.
The group will be trimmed to 30 players by August 22 after the Asian Five Nations tournament in April and May and the Pacific Nations Cup in July.
JRFU chairman Noburo Mashimo was quoted by Japanese media as saying on Monday that the union’s top leaders had decided not to allow Loamanu, who now plays for Toulon in France, to rejoin the Brave Blossoms for the World Cup.
“It was a decision made by the union. He has acted in a way which runs counter to sportsmanship. He is not suitable to represent Japan,” Mashimo said, according to the Sports Nippon.
Loamanu won 16 caps for Japan and played at the 2007 World Cup, but was sacked from Japanese side Toshiba Brave Lupus in February 2009 and banned by the union after two doping tests revealed traces of cannabis.
He denied using marijuana and was not criminally charged.
Loamanu came to Japan when he was in high school and made his debut for Japan’s national side in 2005, aged 18.
AFP
