Japanese kayaker Yasuhiro Suzuki now faces criminal charges, after he admitted to lacing a rival's drink with steroids ©Getty Images

A Japanese kayaker, who in January was banned for eight years after admitting he spiked a rival's drink with steroids, has been referred to prosecutors by police.

Thirty-two-year-old Yasuhiro Suzuki confessed to putting an anabolic steroid in Seji Komatsu's drink at the Canoe Sprint Japan Championships, saying he thought it would give him a better chance of qualifying for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

"I wanted to be in the kayak four in the Tokyo Olympic Games, but I was ranked fifth with a younger kayaker higher than me," Suzuki told Japanese newspaper the Asahi Shimbun.

"If this continued, I knew I would fail to qualify for the Olympics, so I put in [the banned drug]."

Suzuki also reportedly hid Komatsu's paddle to further disrupt his competition.

When the story broke in January, Japan Sports Agency commissioner Daichi Suzuki said he had never heard of such a
When the story broke in January, Japan Sports Agency commissioner Daichi Suzuki said he had never heard of such a "malicious" case before ©Getty Images

According to the Asahi Shimbun, the 32-year-old bought the banned muscle-builder methandienone online and planted it into Komatsu’s drink, during the 200 metres single kayak event at the Championships in Ishikawa Prefecture.

Just as Suzuki intended, Komatsu promptly tested positive and was initially banned, although he has been reinstated since Suzuki’s confession.

Now, in the latest twist to the story, Suzuki’s case has been referred to prosecutors on suspicion of "fraudulent obstruction of business".

The police say it has taken them six months to bring the case because “careful investigation” was required, due to the "unprecedented" nature of the story.

Suzuki was expelled as a member of the Japan Canoe Federation in June.