Sun Yang 2015 in Kazan
Photo: Streeter Lecka / Getty Images
The story of the Chinese swimming superstar Sun Yang and his doping ban is now a massive series of spectacular twists and turns.
It began with smashing a doping sample with a hammer, and on Wednesday the decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court added another chapter of enormous importance.
The end of the fall has thus moved into the distance again.
The now 29-year-old Olympic swimming champion was banned for eight years in February.
This ban of the International Sports Court Cas has now been lifted by that same Swiss Federal Court.
Its task was not to renegotiate the content of the case itself, it takes care of procedural issues.
In this case, the federal court announced, Sun's petition was "approved because of a judge's bias."
The Cas will "have to decide the case again with a different cast".
However, a justification is not yet available.
As the Cas confirmed to SPIEGEL, the judge is the presiding judge Franco Frattini and tweets from the former Italian foreign minister from 2018 in which he spoke out in clear, sometimes insulting words against the so-called dog meat festival in Yulin, China pronounced, on which the meat of around 10,000 dogs slaughtered for the festival is eaten.
Sun's side argued that Frattini could not act independently.
The New York Times reported on it first.
Since these tweets date from a period well before the hearing, the Cas had argued before the Swiss Federal Court that these concerns could and should have been disclosed earlier, it said.
It is not yet clear whether the entire body will have to be replaced.
Sun Yang and his team's objection was part of a series of attempts to sway this case in their favor.
Even before the hearing of the Cas, Sun's lawyers had successfully intervened against one of the original three judges.
Each side may choose one of the panel members at a hearing by the CAS.
And Sun's side had protested the original election of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Wada, so persistently that Michael Beloff resigned "just to support a speedy hearing and not because the challenge was of any value," as it was said.
Can you destroy a doping sample with a hammer?
At the same time, Sun had tried to prevent Wada chief prosecutor Richard Young, who had previously successfully represented the US anti-doping agency against Lance Armstrong and Marion Jones.
However, the Cas did not see an alleged conflict of interest, as Young had previously worked for the swimming association Fina.
The Fina had argued in the hearing on Sun's side, since she had merely warned her favorite swimming star.
The World Anti-Doping Agency, Wada, had lodged an objection and demanded a ban of two to eight years.
What was it about before the Cas?
In short: the question of whether there are circumstances under which a doping sample can be destroyed with a hammer.
(Read more about the background here) The cornerstones of a now notorious night in September 2019 were not particularly controversial in the hearing - but the perspective on them was:
Sun's side had argued that the test personnel had no valid authorization and no proper power of attorney and therefore no proper doping control could have taken place.
Wada had to counter this in two ways: On the one hand, the passages from the test set of rules cited by Sun as evidence of a lack of documentation are merely recommendations that are not legally binding.
On the other hand, with the power of attorney in question, not only were 19,000 tests carried out without objections in 2018, Sun itself also never protested in the previous 60 tests.
And anyway: In case of doubt, the required samples should be submitted following the planned procedure and objections should be recorded in writing.
And don't use the hammer to help.
The CAS agreed with this justification: The staff charged with doping control had met all the requirements of the worldwide rules and regulations and Sun was guilty of "manipulating a doping control".
The ten-hour appointment was only the second public hearing in the history of the CAS, as all parties involved rarely agree to such a request.
But Sun's side, the swimmer himself and his omnipresent mother Ming Yang, also opted for the opportunity to denounce one's own innocence and the perceived injustice in front of everyone.
It was the Sun's second foray
Going to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court also fits into the scheme.
Sun has to save face at home and can celebrate this remarkable judgment as a great success.
Only very few cases are successful before the Swiss court, the quota is said to be around 1: 400 in arbitration and appeal proceedings.
As the Cas reported to SPIEGEL, the objection due to bias was the Sun's second attempt in Switzerland.
The first complaint, "which raises questions of jurisdiction and procedure, is still pending and will now probably become obsolete," said the Cas.
He's also delaying his case.
A date for the new hearing has not yet been set.
Participation in the Olympic Games, which has been postponed to next summer, appears possible again, but not likely.
As early as 2019, Sun was able to swim for gold in the 200 and 400 meters freestyle because the Cas had only scheduled the hearing for the Wada’s objection after the World Cup.
The already controversial sports court will not want to expose itself to an accusation of delay again, but informed SPIEGEL that "at this point in time it is impossible to predict how long this second phase will last."
It could amount to a reduction in the penalty
In addition, the facts were quite clear and the panel's original decision was unanimous.
It could, however, and the Sun side seems to be seriously speculating on this, result in a reduction of the unexpectedly high ban, which in Sun's case is practically equivalent to the end of a career.
Sun was supposed to convince at the Tokyo Games, but that his lawyers would be able to argue for an acquittal seemed less likely with each hour of the hearing.
Above all, Sun is said to be shining at the upcoming Asian Games - to end his career the way he started it in Beijing 2008: with prestigious successes in his home country.
China will host the Asian Games in September 2022, and reducing the ban to two years would give the state, whose most active sports hero he is, this opportunity.
A possible shift in strategy had already been indicated at the hearing in Montreux: The Sun side could offer Ba Zhen, who had already been banned twice for doping offenses, as a scapegoat.
Because suddenly it should not have been Sun anymore, but Ba, who had taken the sample from the test team.
Ba, Sun's doctor for ten years, was therefore also the one who first raised the question of the missing power of attorney.
At a time when Sun had long since given blood without objection.
"Athletes cannot delegate responsibility," Wada attorney Young had replied at the time.
Icon: The mirror
