Sun Yang’s doping appeal delayed for “unexpected personal circumstances”
Controversial Chinese swimmer Sun Yang has won the right to have his doping appeal case over smashing blood vials heard in public — but there’s a catch.
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- Explosive 59-page report on how Sun Yang smashed blood vial
- FINA goes into hiding over swimming scandal
THE drawn-out appeal against Sun Yang’s baffling let-off for destroying his own doping samples has again been delayed, but when the hearing does finally go ahead, it will be open to the public.
The Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced overnight that Sun’s appeal would not be heard now at least until November — more than a year after the hot-headed Chinese swimmer flew into a rage and smashed vials containing his own blood with a hammer.
“The CAS confirms, further to consultation with the parties, that a hearing was tentatively scheduled for September 2019 but due to unexpected personal circumstances, one of the parties was obliged to request a postponement of the hearing,” CAS said in a statement.
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“Such request was assented to by the other parties and accepted by the CAS Panel.
“A new hearing date will be fixed as soon as possible and but is unlikely to be before the end of October 2019.”
CAS also confirmed Sun’s case would be heard in public after his lawyers formally requested an open hearing “in order to be fully transparent and to clear his name” after the The Daily Telegraph exclusively published the full 59-page report that cleared him of two anti-doping charges.
Published a week before the start of the world swimming championships, the explosive revelations from the report became the tipping point for swimmers already infuriated that the unexplained delays to Sun’s hearing allowed him to compete in South Korea while he was still facing an appeal.
That was the catalyst for Mack Horton and British freestyler Duncan Scott to take matters into their own hands by staging stunning protests during the medal ceremonies after Sun’s victories in the 400m and 200m freestyle finals, prompting the sport’s world governing body FINA to introduce emergency reforms as the sport was plunged into an international crisis.
It is extremely rare for doping appeals to be heard in public but CAS said it had granted Sun’s request after WADA also agreed to the request.
“At the parties’ request, the hearing, which will likely take place in Switzerland, will be open to the public (including the media),” CAS said.
“Full details of the arrangements for those who wish to attend the hearing will be made available once the new hearing date and location have been officially confirmed. This will be the second time in the history of CAS that a hearing is held in public.
“The first public hearing, which took place in 1999, was also related to the sport of swimming, in the matter Michelle Smith De Bruin v. FINA.”
Originally published as Sun Yang’s doping appeal delayed for “unexpected personal circumstances”
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