AFP
Chinese swimming star Sun Yang has been slapped with an eight-year ban from the sport for doping, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Friday.
"The Court of Arbitration for Sport has upheld the appeal filed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against the Chinese swimmer Sun Yang and the International Swimming Federation (FINA)," CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb said in a statement.
"The athlete is sanctioned with an eight-year suspension, starting today," Reeb said.
The ban came after a confrontation between Sun and WADA officials after drug investigators went to his home in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou in September 2018 to conduct a spot check on the athlete.
Sun criticized the conduct of the test at the time on the grounds that the assistant who drew his blood wasn't qualified to do so. He then smashed the sample bottles to prevent them from being used.
FINA ruled that he hadn't violated the rules, but WADA appealed that decision to the CAS, which ruled on Friday following a 10-hour hearing in Switzerland last November.
The eight-year ban will likely put a premature end to Sun's competitive swimming career.
Sun said via his account on the social media platform Sina Weibo that he was "shocked and angry" over the ruling.
"I was shocked, angry and could not understand the result of the ruling of the CAS!," he wrote.
"I clearly cooperated in accordance with the various regulations on doping control," he said. "The inspectors were unqualified, and they acknowledged this at the time."
Appeal planned
Sun said he has hired a lawyer to appeal to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.
"I strongly maintain my innocence," Sun said. "I have faith that the truth will overcome lies ... [and] I will fight to the end to defend my legitimate rights and interests!"
A number of Chinese athletes declined to comment when contacted by RFA on Friday.
Yang Weidong, who has written about large-scale doping scandals among Chinese athletes in recent years, said he agreed with the ruling, however.
"Why did they smash the blood samples?" Yang said. "The credibility of the Chinese swimming team and the Chinese Swimming Federation has been destroyed."
The Chinese Swimming Association expressed its "deep regret" at the CAS ruling, arguing, like Sun, that the testers were "personnel without professional training and legal qualification to collect athlete samples, and the activity was illegal and invalid."
"We support Sun Yang to continue to safeguard his legitimate rights and interests by legal means," it said.
But Yang said the use of stimulants among Chinese competitive swimmers is "an open secret."
"The eight year ban at his age is equivalent to a lifetime suspension," he said.
Destroying samples is not a good look
CAS said its panel had "unanimously determined" that Sun had tampered with his doping control.
The lengthy ban was imposed after taking into consideration a previous doping ban, CAS said.
"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 with the ISTI (International Standard for Testing and Investigations)," CAS said.
"It is one thing, having provided a blood sample, to question the accreditation of the testing personnel while keeping the intact samples in the possession of the testing authorities; it is quite another thing, after lengthy exchanges and warnings as to the consequences, to act in such a way that results in destroying the sample containers, thereby eliminating any chance of testing the sample at a later stage."
The ruling didn't appear on Friday to have affected Sun's fan base in China.
His Weibo post garnered thousands of replies, the majority of them supportive.
"I support you, and believe you," user @Yuan_Xiaomoer wrote, while others cited shorter bans or more lenient sanctions handed down to athletes from other countries.
“Bro, we will always believe in you," wrote @zhenzhunaichajialeyeguo, with a weeping emoticon. "An upside-down verdict cannot invalidate your glorious career. Don't be sad, okay?"
Reported by Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
