Paris (AFP)
Chinese swimmer Sun Yang, who was sentenced to eight years suspended for doping by the Sports Arbitral Tribunal (CAS), appealed the decision to the Swiss federal court, Swimming World magazine announced on Monday on its website.
This information was confirmed to AFP by a source close to the file.
According to Swimming World, the appeal was filed on April 29 by lawyers for Sun Yang. The Swiss federal court, the last resort available to the Chinese swimmer to have his conviction set aside, however, did not confirm the information, but according to the media, "a file has been opened with a number attached to the + Sun file Yang + ".
As the appeal to the Swiss Federal Court is not suspensive, Yang remains suspended from all activities related to swimming.
Sun Yang, three-time Olympic champion and eleven-time world champion, received an eight-year suspension from the CAS on February 28 for hammer-destroying a sample during an unannounced doping test in September 2018.
The 28-year-old Chinese swimmer, who had already been suspended three months in 2014 for a positive control of a stimulant (trimetazidine), was thus deprived of the prospect of participating in the next Olympic Games, in particular those of Tokyo.
On the other hand, his titles won after the incredible control, notably the gold medals of the 200 and 400 freestyle in Gwangju (South Korea) in July 2019, which could not be withdrawn retroactively according to the CAS, had been maintained in the ranking of Yang .
The Chinese had announced in late February his intention to appeal the CAS judgment. "It is unfair, I firmly believe in my innocence. I will appeal so that as many people as possible know the truth," he said, according to remarks reported by the Chinese agency Xinhua.
© 2020 AFP