- Wada want star banned for two to eight years for smashed blood vials at September 2018 test while Sun points to video.
- Translation issues beset Swiss hearing, with Sun trying to bring in another for his closing statements
Chinese swimming star Sun Yang's Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing concluded in Switzerland late on Friday with both sides struggling with translation.
The start to the hearing at the Fairmont des Montreux hotel was delayed because the translator failed to translate the opening remarks to Sun and issues continued throughout the day.
Despite the hearing being conducted in English, Sun and many of his witnesses relied on the approved translator.
At one point during Sun's time being questioned the translator translated "200 times" as "200ml of blood", leading to confusion from the swimmer.
yes I know what you mean, But Chinese translation led to many problems. Like Sun Yang this time, the foreign media didn't report the truth, but the Chinese sports system can't speak English and tell the truth and detail. Chinese translation is so bad. Ba zhen can't speak English.
" sunyang.river (@SunyangR) November 15, 2019
By the end of the day, when Sun was back in front of the microphone, he tried to bring in another translator but this was refused as he had not been preapproved.
The hearing is world doping body Wada on one side against Sun Yang and Fina on the other. Wada want to overturn original verdict of Fina's inquiry into an out of competition test at Sun's home in September last year. They are also seeking that he be banned between two and eight years for his actions that night, where blood samples were destroyed.
The Sun Yang CAS case has wrapped up - comical translation issues - argument essentially is whether the doping control team provided the proper paperwork. Decision will come at a later date
" Alex Capstick (@Cappo61) November 15, 2019
Sun has maintained his innocence and pointed to his willingness to take a public CAS trial, only the second in the history of the court, as evidence.
He told the court that the testers who arrived at his home were in the wrong because they did not provide correct identification.
"If they had been professional and had shown their identification, we would not be here today," Sun said via translator.
The Swedish firm IDTM, who are used for tests by Fina, rejected this, saying the paperwork that the testers had was standard. They claimed that such paperwork had been used to successfully complete 3,200 tests without incident.
Wada counsel Richard Young said that Sun had been given 180 doping tests with the same identification procedure, 60 of which were carried out by IDTM.
The incidents that took place over September 4 and 5 at Sun's Zhejiang home are reported to have included threats to call the police by the swimmer's mother Ming Yang and the destruction of Sun's blood samples by his entourage.
Ming denied calling the police, but said she now wishes she had done so as she believes that may have avoided the current hearing.
Richard Young for Wada described Sun and his team's behaviour that night as "pretty sensational" while one Wada official had described the events at his home as "out of control".
In his closing statements Sun also pointed to video evidence that he says will clear his name. The video, which is said to show that the testing team were taking photos of Sun and that there was no conflict between his team and them, has been key to Sun's evidence.
This chinese translation at Sun Yang hearing is appalling. I understand you have to clear the translators for background, but it is not so hard to find decent mandarin speaking translator as this was not a issue for many countries' legal systems or simply customs at airports.
" Hualun (hunter) Shi (@hualun14) November 15, 2019
While it was not shown in court, the panel did say it would be taken into account when they make their decision. That decision is not expected for weeks and possibly not before the new year.
Sun also expressed concern that the leaking of the original Fina report to the media, who reported its findings earlier this year, has damaged his reputation.
Chinese media reported that Sun closed by asking the panel 10 questions.
His fans in China remained supportive throughout and videos of his testimony to the court saw millions of views on Sina Weibo, where his hearing was a trending topic. Comments on the site were in favour of Sun being cleared again by the CAS.
All sides " Sun, Wada and Fina " agreed that they had been granted their right to be heard.
Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
