Why has Lang Ping escaped ban for volleyball star Yang Fangxu’s doping violation, asks Chinese social media

The role of China’s iconic women’s volleyball coach, Lang Ping, has come under online scrutiny after it was disclosed this week that one of the players on the national team she coaches is serving a ban for failing a drug test.

Yang Fangxu, a member of the gold medal winning team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, tested positive in August last year for erythropoietin (EPO), which stimulates the growth of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in the body, and was banned for four years by the China Anti-Doping Agency (Cada). News of the suspension only surfaced on Tuesday, one year on from the failed test, when the agency announced Yang tested positive during an out-of-competition test and would be banned until September 2022.

Yang’s ban was announced along with two other doping cases involving Chinese athletes. In both of the other cases, the coaches of the athletes involved were also punished, but no action has been reported to have been taken in respect of Lang, and she is not mentioned on the Cada website under Yang’s case.

Athletics coach Li Yanbao was banned for two years after his athlete received a four-year suspension for doping, while ice hockey coach Wang Yongjun also got a six-month ban for being held responsible for her player’s behaviour.

Lang is held in high esteem on the mainland. Nicknamed “Iron Hammer” as a player, Lang steered Team China to the gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and the World Cup the following year.