 He would later receive a three-month suspension from the NPB, but his involvement effectively barred him from signing with another team, and he retired at the end of the year.Ikenaga's banning was fiercely contested by both Nishitetsu's front office and Ikenaga's family.His case was not taken up by the NPB until March 2005, when commissioner Yasuchika Negoro and team owners agreed on a bylaw that allowed banned players who have reformed themselves to petition for a removal of the ban.