Chinese state media Xinhua reports that a Swiss tribunal has lifted an eight-year ban on remote swimmers Sun Yang. WADA, a party to the case, proposes that the case be returned to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) with a new chairman.
Background
In February, Sun was banned for eight years due to an out-of-competition doping test in which Sun challenged the credentials of doping control officers. The test ended with a vial of Suns blood smashed before doping control agents could take it away for testing.
The International Swimming Federation, FINA, initially sought a ban on Sun, but an independent doping panel cleared him. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed this decision to the CAS, which culminated in a livestreamed hearing in November 2019, devastated by frequent translation problems. CAS ultimately handed down an eight-year ban to Sun.
But he appealed that decision to the Swiss Federal Court. In April, he filed an appeal and asked the Swiss Federal Court to lift the ban completely. In June, he filed another appeal, asking the court to review the ban.
Reports: Sun’s Revision Upheld, Ban Set Aside, Matter Returns to CAS
The Chinese state media agency Xinhua published a very short report today, announcing that the Swiss federal court had “overturned” the CAS decision.
The Swiss federal court ruling is not yet publicly available. But WADA, the party opposed to Sun in the case, released a press release acknowledging that the Swiss federal court had upheld an “application for review” filed by Sun and had “lifted” its eight-year ban. You can watch the WADA release here.
WADA says the Swiss court ruling “maintains a challenge against the chairman of the CAS panel and makes no comment on the content of this case.” WADA’s release suggests that the decision of the Swiss federal court will send the case back to the CAS for another hearing with another chairman chairing the CAS panel.
“In the CAS award, WADA clearly had an influence 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 and the related international standard of testing. and investigation, ”says WADA in its release. “WADA will take steps to present its case robustly again when the case returns to the CAS panel, which will be chaired by another president.”
It seems to Sun Yangsaga will continue, potentially with another CAS hearing.