WADA says Swiss court has overturned doping ban on swimmer Sun Yang


The World Anti-Doping Agency has said that a Swiss court has overturned an eight-year doping ban against Chinese swimmer Sun Yang and ordered it back to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) a second time. However, this time with a different panel of judges.
In February, CAS found the three-time Olympic champion guilty of refusing to co-operate with sample collectors during a visit to his house in September 2018. The incident had turned confrontational. WADA turned to CAS after the international swimming body FINA only issued a warning to the now 29-year old Sun Yang.
Yang’s chance to compete in the Tokyo Olympics next year is at stake during the second CAS hearing.
‘In the CAS award, WADA clearly prevailed’

On Wednesday, WADA said in a statement that it had been informed of a decision by the Swiss Federal Tribunal to uphold an application by Yang and to set aside the original February ruling.
“The Swiss Federal Tribunal’s decision upholds a challenge against the chair of the CAS Panel and makes no comment on the substance of this case,” WADA said in the statement.
“In the CAS award, WADA clearly prevailed on the substance of the case as it was able to show that there were a number of aspects of the original FINA decision that were incorrect under the World Anti-Doping Code . . . WADA will take steps to present its case robustly again when the matter returns to the CAS Panel, which will be chaired by a different president (chairman),” it said.
“At this stage, WADA has not received the tribunal’s full reasoned decision and therefore cannot comment further,” it added. The Swiss court ruling appears to have swung on an objection by Sun’s lawyers to the chairman of the three-judge panel, former Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini.
‘Who is this guy?’

The clash between Franco Frattini and Sun Yang was one of the most dramatic moments in 10-hour CAS hearing in Montreux, Switzerland in November 2019. It was one of the rare instants of a CAS hearing held in open court and live-streamed online. The hearing ended with Yang surprising his own legal team by calling another translator from the public seats to better articulate his closing statement.
“Who is this guy?” Frattini had asked. “It is not up to you to appear before the court. There are some rules,” he added. Frattini had upset Yang and his legal team for a series of past tweets. Including the one from April 23, 2019. “Those horrible sadic chinese are the shame of mankind !! For how they torture animals they deserve the evil every day! And the chinese authorities tolerate and encourage,” it read.
CAS had declared an unanimous decision

Very few cases, at a rate of about one per year that includes around 400 arbitration and appeal processes, are successful at the Swiss tribunal. It is even possible to overturn a CAS verdict in the federal court and still lose the re-trial. The most vivid detail of the evidence submitted at the Yang’s November 2019 CAS hearing was a blood sample rendered useless for testing by a hammer blow. The hearing was reminded how a security guard instructed by Yang’s mother broke the vial of blood so that it could not be used for tests.
“The athlete failed to establish that he had a compelling justification to destroy his sample collection containers and forego the doping control when, in his opinion, the collection protocol was not in compliance,” CAS panel of three judges said in an unanimous verdict in February.
Immediately, Sun Yang said he planned to appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, which is Switzerland’s highest court. That move proved to be successful this week. It set the scene for another CAS hearing ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. It ensured the case involving a controversial 2018 doping test continues into at least 2021.
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Ira Deokule
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