The 13-month-long public saga regarding an out-of-competition anti-doping test that went awry in September 2018 for Chinese star Sun Yang might not be over yet.
Following the stunning announcement of his eight-year ban from swimming at the hands of the Court of Arbitration for Sport Friday, the three-time Olympic champion says he will appeal the decision to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.
“This is unfair. I firmly believe in my innocence,” Sun told Xinhua News. “I will definitely appeal to let more people know the truth.”
After the decision was announced, CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb explained that Sun has 30 days to appeal, and he can request a stay of the decision in the higher court. According to the CAS website, an appeal is “allowed on a very limited number of grounds, such as lack of jurisdiction, violation of elementary procedural rules (e.g. violation of the right to a fair hearing) or incompatibility with public policy.”
Sun Yang Swimmer ban of 8 years upheld at CAS in Lausanne#SunYang#doping#Olympics pic.twitter.com/7GNqSPUsfS
— mattleightoncnn (@mleightoncnn) February 28, 2020
The night of the fateful test in question, Sun challenged the credentials of the doping control officers and did not provide a urine sample. Sun’s challenge of the testers’ authorization caused a dispute over a blood sample he’d already given that night, and the sample was ultimately destroyed by one of Sun’s guards while removing it from the secure container.
FINA originally sought a ban against Sun, but an independent FINA doping panel cleared him. WADA appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which had a fully public hearing last November, though that hearing was marred by translation issues that delayed the CAS decision.
The suspension is the 28-year-old’s second in his career. He tested positive at Chinese Nationals in the spring of 2014 and was given a three-month ban, though that ban wasn’t publicized or announced until it was over, and was short enough to allow him to compete (and win three gold medals) at the 2014 Asian Games.
His mom should write the appeal. It will be smashing!
his mom complaint the lawyers weren’t good enough to help his son. she wanted to fired them but the chinese official didn’t allowed her to do it.
Smashing the samples: 8 years
Actually doping with some excuse like contamination: some months, maybe a year???
I am all for clean sport, and punishing every cheater, but I still don’t know how I feel about this. If he gets the 8 years, this should be the norm from now on, not the ones like Roland Schoeman’s or that Brazilian guy’s case, where atheletes gets minimal punishment for actual doping because they presented some barely beliveable excuse for their violation. Consistency is something these punishments could use. FINA is a joke right now when it comes to doping
There is a problem with consistency but you’re also comparing a second offense (Sun Yang) with a first offense (others with dubious excuses). Sun already got off lightly for his first offense.
Especially when injecting testosterone only got 20 months ban.
Also, an athlete is allowed to miss 2 tests in a year, and missing 3 tests usually gives you less than 2 years of ban. If he just didn’t show up that day, it would have been a lot simpler.
Too bad he had no way of knowing beforehand that testers were going to show up at his door with improper credentials and that he was going to react in such a controversial way in response.
Pretty sure he did know the first part of that. I might be getting mixed up with the facts, but if I recall, he wasn’t home, was contacted about the testing, and then went to show up for said testing. He could have just skipped the test…
You are saying that Sun knew he would take issue with the DCA’s credentials before he showed up for the test? I doubt that. My impression is that the situation unfolded and escalated during the test, or Sun wouldn’t have allowed his blood to be drawn in the first place.
I personally think they gave him 8 years to factor in an additional appeal would probably reduce the initial ban. By giving him that long of a ban, he will likely still miss Tokyo no matter what they reduce the suspension to.
This was my first reaction too. Even if it was his second offense, I’m still surprised that the punishment is much, much worse than a bunch of doping cases where the athlete actually tested positive.
The Sun has set
That a boy Sun
Even if the horse has passed awat, you can still try to sit on it
It will be overturned
It’s been a while since I followed this story, but I felt like I decided he didn’t have a fair trial with the translator issues. I think he will definitely meet the qualifications for an appeal, whether that leads to an overturn of the ban I am unsure
How does this affect his eligibility to compete at Tokyo?
He can appeal to God in Heaven or whatever deity he believes in, but based on the appeal definition, doesn’t seem like it’s going to be changed.
I hope so