ZCZC
BSP-03
SWIM-CHN-SUN-DOPING
Lost in translation: swimmer Sun Yang’s doping case hits interpretation
snag
GENEVA, Dec 11, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Chinese Olympic swimming champion Sun
Yang’s anti-doping case, in which he is facing an eight-year ban for missing
a drug test, won’t be settled before mid-January because of translation
problems, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said.
The Swiss-based court said “some concerns were raised” about the
translation of Sun’s testimony from Chinese into English at the one-day
hearing on November 15.
The triple Olympic gold medal-winner, who served a doping suspension in
2014, is accused of smashing a blood vial with a hammer following a visit by
testers in September last year.
“Although the organization and the schedule of the public hearing was to
the satisfaction of the arbitrators and parties’ counsels, some concerns were
raised with respect to the quality of the interpretation of Mr. Yang’s
testimony,” a CAS statement said.
“The parties are currently preparing an agreed-upon written transcript of
the proceedings, including a full translation of Mr. Yang’s testimony, which
the panel will work from when deliberating and preparing the arbitral award,”
CAS said, adding that the case would not be decided before mid-January.
Sun’s CAS hearing, the first in 20 years that was open to the public, was
beset by technical difficulties and interpreting errors between Chinese and
English which frustrated lawyers and held up proceedings.
CAS said the private translation service was provided by Sun’s camp and
agreed by both parties, adding that it couldn’t hire its own interpreters for
reasons of “independence and neutrality”.
Swimming body FINA confirmed in January that Sun had used a hammer to
smash a vial containing his own blood sample during the testing session, but
acquitted him of anti-doping violations, agreeing that testers had failed to
produce adequate identification.
But the ruling outraged the World Anti-Doping Agency which took the matter
to CAS, demanding a ban of between two and eight years for missing the out-
of-competition test.
After being cleared by FINA Sun was able to compete in the World
Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, in July, where he won two golds but
became a focus of protests from rivals.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0947 hrs