The Japanese men's national volleyball team enters the 2026 season under serious pressure, after local media reported a new scandal involving one of the national team players.
According to reports in the Japanese sports scene, a player from the extended squad of "Ryujin Nippon" has already been removed from the team due to a suspected drug-related incident. As of now, the Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) has not published official details on the case.
Polish journalist Jakub Balcerzak announced on social media that national team player Shunichiro Sato was arrested on suspicion of drug possession. According to the published information, the 26-year-old middle blocker was immediately removed from head coach Laurent Tillie's squad.

A little later, the journalist added that, according to Japanese portals, the personal belongings of the other players currently at the national team's training camp were searched. No drugs were found during this search.
According to information cited by Balcerzak, drug tests are to be conducted on the players tomorrow to determine if there are any other volleyball players who have used prohibited substances in recent days.
The federation has declined to reveal the names of the players who may have been with Sato at the time of his arrest.
Japanese media also report that an extremely tense atmosphere currently prevails in the team led by Laurent Tillie. Thus, the season for one of the most popular national teams in the world begins in the worst possible way.
As of now, the Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) has not yet published an official detailed statement on the case, but Japanese media are already reporting that Sato has been removed from the national team.
The incident comes at an extremely inconvenient time for "Ryujin Nippon", as the Japanese national team has gone through several serious turbulences in the past two years. After a successful period under the leadership of Philippe Blain, the Japanese built an image as one of the most disciplined and professional programs in world volleyball, but in recent seasons, both sports-related and non-sports-related problems have accumulated around the team.
Last year, Japan failed to meet expectations at the World Championship, and after the end of the season, local media also reported internal scandals related to the behavior of some of the national team players.
It is currently unclear whether the present case involves only possession, use, or another violation under Japanese law. The Japan Volleyball Association is expected to issue an official statement in the coming days.
photo: Nikolay Varadinov