China volleyball doping case will have little impact on the sport, says mainland official
- Former national team player Yang Fangxu was banned for four years for testing positive for EPO
- Yang played for gold medal-winning China at the 2016 Olympic Games
The scandal involving the ban on a Chinese volleyball Olympic gold medallist for failing a drug test will have minimal impact upon the sport, a top mainland and world governing body executive (FIVB) said.
Wei Jizhong, who was president of the FIVB from 2008 to 2012 and is still a member of the world governing body’s executive committee, wrote in his weekly column that the suspension of former national team player Yang Fangxu was made in accordance with the rules.
Wei is so far the only senior official that has commented on the case.
Yang, 24, a member of the gold medal-winning team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO), which stimulates the growth of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in the body, and has been suspended since August last year, just before the 2018 Asian Games.
Her case was not reported by the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (CADA) until last week when it stated Yang tested positive during an out-of-competition test and would be banned until September 2022.
Neither the Chinese Volleyball Association nor the China national team under head coach Lang Ping has commented on Yang’s suspension.