Swimming- Dog-meat tweeting judge in Sun doping case had doubtful impartiality - Swiss court (updated)

CammSys

15/01/2021 14:01

(Adds comment from CAS)
    ZURICH, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Chinese swimmer Sun Yang did not
get an impartial hearing when he was banned for eight years for
doping offences as one of the judges had tweeted anti-Chinese
messages concerning animal rights, Switzerland's highest court
said on Friday.   
    The Federal Supreme Court said tweets by the president of
the panel of arbitrators at the Court of Arbitration for Sport
(CAS) - the Italian Franco Frattini - had exhibited possible
bias against Chinese people and their treatment of dogs. 
    "The Federal Supreme Court therefore considered that the
doubts as to the impartiality of the arbitrator were objectively
justified," the Lausanne court said on Friday, giving reasons
for its December decision to send the matter back to CAS, which
is based in the same city.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2J32Q6
    Triple Olympic champion Sun was originally banned by CAS
last February after it accepted an appeal from the World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against a decision by swimming
governing body FINA to clear him of wrongdoing for his conduct
during a 2018 test.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2AS3SX
    The swimmer appealed and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in
December upheld his challenge against the CAS Panel "on the
grounds of bias of one of the arbitrators of the CAS." 
    Giving its reasons on Friday, the court said the CAS
arbitrator had tweeted about animal protection issues, without
the restraint required of judges, and had repeatedly used
violent expressions.
    "In his tweets, the arbitrator castigates a Chinese practice
of dog slaughter and denounces the consumption of this meat at a
local festival in China," the Federal Supreme Court said.
    "Some expressions refer to the skin colour of certain
Chinese people he targets," it added. "In addition, the
arbitrator also made the said remarks in tweets after his
appointment as president of the panel of arbitrators deciding in
the Sun Yang case."
    As a result, the case has now been sent back to CAS, which
must hear it again with a different panel of judges.
    The sanctions imposed on Sun were automatically lifted after
the court's December decision, CAS said, adding its procedure
would resume once a new president of the panel had been
appointed.
    "Ultimately, a new award will be issued, which could be
different from the first one, or similar," a CAS spokeswoman
said.
    The decision could potentially clear the way for Sun to
compete at this year's delayed Tokyo Olympics, depending on when
the case is heard.
    Sun, the reigning world and Olympic champion in 200 metres
freestyle, was banned after he and members of his entourage were
found to have smashed vials containing blood samples taken at an
out-of-competition test in September 2018.
    Sun has questioned the credentials and identity of the
testers and has constantly proclaimed his innocence.
    
    

    
    
    

 (Reporting by John Revill
Editing by Toby Davis)
 ((John.Revill@thomsonreuters.com; +41 58306 7022; Reuters
Messaging: john.revill.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))