5 American football players in Japan disciplined over cannabis, undisclosed offenses

OSAKA — Five American football players at Kwansei Gakuin University have been punished for allegedly committing serious violations including a cannabis-related offense during the Japan under-20 national team’s tour of Canada in June and July, the Japan American Football Association announced on Aug. 30.

According to the association, one of the players is indefinitely excluded from eligibility for the national team over possession and use of a product believed to contain a marijuana ingredient. The association also advised the university to indefinitely suspend the player.

For the remaining four players, one was excluded from national team selection for two years, and the three others for one year. The association also advised the university to suspend one of the four players from participating in matches against other teams for six months. The details of the violations were not disclosed.

In addition, the association’s board director Kiyoyuki Mori, who served as general manager of the U-20 national team, was given a stern warning. The disciplinary action was dated Aug. 30.

Kwansei Gakuin University has one of the top college American football teams in Japan, belonging to the top division of the Kansai Collegiate American Football League and winning the Mainichi Koshien Bowl, which decides the champion university in Japan, six consecutive times.

Among collegiate American football clubs in Japan, Nihon University disbanded its team in 2023 after a drug scandal came to light.

(Japanese original by Rinnosuke Fukano, Osaka Sports News Department)