Sun Yang: no decision on CAS ban appeals yet, says Swiss Federal Tribunal
- China’s star swimmer has filed two appeals over eight-year ban from Court of Arbitration for Sport
- Legal team working for Sun include Swiss law firm who helped to overturn CAS rulings against Russian athletes in 2018
The Swiss Federal Tribunal has confirmed that it received an appeal from Chinese star swimmer Sun Yang following his eight-year ban from the Court of Arbitration for Sport in February.
In an email shared on Chinese social media, they confirmed that no decision has been made on their cases, 4A_192/2020 and 4A_318/2020. The latter of those case files is an additional appeal made by Sun last month.
The swimmer’s Swiss law firm Bonnard Lawson had announced that their client had appealed in a statement earlier this month.
“On 28 April 2020, Mr. Sun Yang filed an application with the Swiss Supreme Court to set aside the award rendered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 28 February 2020, by which the CAS Panel announced an eight-year ban against Mr. Sun Yang.
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“On 15 June 2020, Mr. Sun Yang filed an application for revision of the same award in addition to the setting-aside application.”
The second appeal means that the eight year ban could be reduced rather than dismissed entirely. However, the SFT will only rule in Sun’s favour if they find procedural failings with the CAS trial last November.
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“Please note that during the proceedings, Mr. Sun Yang and the below counsel will not give any interviews or provide further information on the proceedings,” the statement continued.
“Mr. Sun Yang will continue to firmly defend his legitimate rights and prove his innocence. He would like to express his gratitude to swimming fans and the public for their consistent support.”
The statement is signed by Fabrice Robert-Tissot of Bonnard Lawson along with Christopher Boog and Philippe Bartsch of Schellenberg Wittmer, another Swiss law firm.
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Schellenberg Wittmer were hired by the Russian Anti-doping Agency Rusada in their fight against CAS last year, while the lawyers also helped clear 39 Russian athletes and get their bans overturned in 2018.
Sun has kept out of the public eye in the months since the career-ending ruling from CAS. He was pictured in Beijing Airport last month but refused to respond to questions.
It has been suggested in mainland media reports that Sun has not given up on competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games next summer.
