Sun banned after appeal upheld

Chinese star Sun Yang has been banned for eight years after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the World Anti-Doping Agency’s appeal against a decision by swimming’s governing body Fina to clear him of a doping offence.

The decision means Sun won’t be allowed to defend his 200m freestyle title at the Olympics in Tokyo and effectively ends his career.

Sun was accused of smashing vials of his blood after a row with a team of Fina drug-testers at his home in September 2018. The 28-year-old, his mother and entourage allegedly interfered with the Fina team’s efforts to get samples as they did not believe the testers were properly accredited or qualified.

Sun, who’d already served a threemonth ban for an earlier offence, was cleared by a subsequent Fina investigation, a decision which prompted fury and incredulity around the swimming world.

That was evident at the World

Aquatics Championships in South Korea in July, when Sun claimed his 10th and 11th world titles but also clashed with Australia’s Mack Horton and Britain’s Duncan Scott during medal ceremonies.

Scottish competitor Scott, a former Strathallan School pupil, infuriated Sun by refusing to shake hands during their medal ceremony, just days after Horton had refused to share a podium with the Chinese swimmer.

Scott said: “I fully respect the decision announced by CAS. I believe in clean sport and a level playing field for all athletes and I trust in CAS and Wada to uphold these values.”

Wada welcomed the decision and the agency’s Olivier Niggli said: “We’ll now need to take time to review the decision in full, and we will continue to review diligently all anti-doping decisions taken by code signatories to ensure they are in line with the code and, when warranted, to exercise our independent right of appeal.”