11 things you must know about the Sun Yang doping appeal
Controversial swimmer Sun Yang faces an appeals hearing in Switzerland, where he could be banned for up to eight years – here’s everything you need to know about the scandal.
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Everything you need to know about the Sun Yang doping case.
1. Who is Sun Yang and why is he so controversial?
Sun Yang is China’s best known and most successful sportsman. A multiple Olympic and world champion freestyle swimmer, he’s regarded as a national hero in his homeland but a villain to his rivals because of the perception he’s treated differently to everyone else after it emerged he secretly served a three-month ban in 2014 after failing a drugs test for a heart medication he was taking.
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2. What is he accused of doing this time?
Sun has admitted destroying his own blood samples with a hammer at an out-of-competition test at his home in China last year before they could be tested for performance enhancing drugs. He was charged with two anti-doping violations, tampering with a sample and refusing to provide a sample, which are both serious offences that normally attract lengthy bans.
3. Why wasn’t he punished?
A three-man doping panel, appointed by swimming’s world governing body FINA, cleared Sun of any wrongdoing after accepting his lawyer’s argument that the independent testers did not have the right credentials to carry out the procedures and did not adequately warn him that destroying the samples would constitute a breach of the rules. However, the panel did issue him with a caution and said the verdict was a “close-run thing.”
4. What was the reaction to his let-off?
The international swimming community was furious at the decision, with past and present competitors demanding a full and transparent review of the case and questioning why he was allowed to compete at this year’s world championships while the case was still under appeal. Tensions boiled over at the world titles when Mack Horton and Duncan Scott refused to join Sun on the podium at the medal presentations, triggering a full-scale mutiny that prompted FINA to introduce emergency rules banning future protests, while hundreds of Sun’s fanatical supports issued death threats against Australians.
5. What did the authorities do?
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), already under intense pressure for their handling of the Russian drugs crisis, lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the FINA panel’s decision to clear Sun of any wrongdoing, arguing that the testers correctly followed all the procedures and Sun’s actions were a clear breach of the rules sdo should have resulted in a ban.
6. When is the appeal?
The appeal is taking place at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace on the banks of Lake Geneva in Switzerland, starting on Friday night (Australian time). The hearing is scheduled to last 12 hours and will hear testimony from various witnesses, including Sun himself. On the request of Sun’s lawyers, the hearing will be held in public and available on livestream. The only previous time a CAS hearing was open to the public was in 1999 when the Irish swimmer Michelle Smith was charged with tampering with a urine sample. Smith lost her appeal and never raced again after receiving a four year ban.
7. Who will decide the case?
A panel of three arbitrators have been appointed to decide the case: Italian judge Franco Frattini, Belgium-based solicitor Romano F. Subiotto QC and UK law professor Philippe Sands. Sun will be represented by his Chinese and British lawyers while American lawyer US Richard Young will be WADA’s lead counsel. Young is one of WADA’s go to men for doping cases, having helped bring down some of the most notorious drug cheats in world sport, including Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones and Floyd Landis.
8. When will the verdict be delivered?
CAS has not provided a timetable on when the decision will be announced, other than it won’t be immediately after the hearing. In previous cases, CAS has taken weeks and often months to reach a decision. In Sun’s initial hearing, the FINA Panel took almost seven weeks to reach a verdict, so it’s possible the appeal findings will not be released until early 2020.
9. What happens if he’s found guilty?
WADA has requested that if Sun is found guilty, then he banned from competition for a minimum of two years and a maximum of eight. About to turn 28 next month, even a minimum ban would effectively end his career, ensuring he would miss next year’s Tokyo Olympics and the 2021 championships. Neither WADA or FINA has indicted whether Sun will be allowed to keep the medals he won at the world championships if he is suspended. Both parties can appeal the decision to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, but on limited grounds, and have 30 days to lodge an appeal.
10. What happens is he’s found innocent?
Sun will be clear to carry on swimming but with the case hinging on whether the testers were properly authorised to carry out the tests, WADA’s procedures will come under intense scrutiny and raise the possibility that other athletes could object to be tested unless the procedures are changed. It will also raise questions about who should be in attendance at random out of competition tests after Sun’s mother and doctor were both present at his test.
11. What people have said about the case so far:
“I think that there are some very, very strong questions that need to be asked about the doping situation especially where it pertains to Sun Yang. To have someone flaunt the system so brazenly so openly it makes me wonder why I bother and it raises some really serious questions that demand answers if WADA and FINA want to remain credible in the world of clean sport,” Australian swimmer Cate Campbell.
“A case like this surely doesn’t help the reliability and trust in this system. I think WADA, FINA, IOC, all these parties really need to work hard together to provide more clarity, more transparency,” – Australian head coach Jacco Verhaeren
“I don’t want to see this guy competing at World Championships or Olympics against my teammates who work extremely hard you get there. Pretty sure neither does anybody else,” – British Olympic champion Adam Peaty.
“If (Sun) can’t respect our sport, then why should I respect him? “I think a lot of people, everyone in swimming, got behind what Mack did. Hopefully this will happen in more events,” British swimmer Duncan Scott.
“The matter is before CAS who will try the appeal brought by WADA. It is CAS and CAS alone who should hear this appeal and Sun Yang objects to being tried by the Australian press by journalists who cherrypicked through FINA’s judgment, inciting adverse and damaging reactions from third-parties on the internet,” – Sun’s lawyers.
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