The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has released an update in the WADA v. Sun Yang & FINA case, marred by translation issues during the November 15 hearing.
The update is mostly procedural, but has two key pieces of information. (1) Both parties are preparing an “agreed-upon written transcript” of the hearing to make sure the process isn’t compromised by the translation issues, and (2) CAS doesn’t expect to issue a decision before mid-January of 2020.
The case involves Chinese distance swimmer Sun Yang, who challenged the authorization documents of doping control officers in a September 2018 out-of-competition test. FINA sought a ban on Sun, but a three-member independent FINA Doping Panel ruled in Sun’s favor. Reportedly “furious” over that ruling, WADA appealed to CAS, seeking a ban on Sun. We’ve covered the entire incident in much more detail, and you can catch up on all it below:
Sun requested that the CAS hearing be public – just the second public hearing in CAS history. The 11-hour hearing was live-streamed, and SwimSwam staff recapped all 11 hours of testimony live. You can read that full recap here.
One huge storyline from the hearing was difficulty in translation. Sun’s testimony – and that of most of his witnesses – was done in Chinese, but the hearing itself was held in English. CAS regulations allow a party to use a different language, but that party must pay for interpretation of that other language.
But the interpreters in this case took center stage all too often. Many Chinese- and English-speaking observers noted that the translation was not accurately relating Sun’s testimony. The translation time was also throwing a wrench into time limits on statements. Late in the hearing, as the translator struggled with Sun’s closing statement, Sun tried to call up a different translator, but was chastised by all parties, including his own lawyer, as the new translator hadn’t been cleared in advance.
Today’s CAS statement says that “some concerns were raised with respect to the quality of the interpretation of Mr. Yang’s testimony.” In order to make sure his testimony is clear, both parties are “preparing an agreed-upon written transcript of the proceedings,” which the CAS panel will use in making its final decision.
CAS also says that it likely won’t issue a decision before mid-January. You can read the full CAS statement here.
Crazy how this guy is still allowed to swim , get this cheat out of the sport
Ban the cheater
They still didn’t get Sun’s family name correct. lol.
Can this get any weirder?
How do you say “lifetime ban” in Mandarin?
After all the coverage on this case, it seems that there are just some major bigots on this site who refuse to change their opinions based on potential facts present in front of them. You, my guy, are one of them. Cmon man, just open your mind to other possibilities.
Bigot? 🤔
Lost in translation.
I made a joke and you are posting some nonsense about my point of view
That there are solid arguments on both sides is your opinion. That you can”t see other possibilities makes you a bigot.
self-right·eous /ˌself ˈrīCHəs/ adjective
Having or characterized by a certainty, especially an unfounded one, that one is totally correct or morally superior.
Is “hammer, blood, vial, and smash” that difficult to translate into Mandarin?
I mean… SwimSwam has spent a year reporting all the context of this in English and English-speaking readers are still routinely getting the basic facts wrong when discussing it. So yeah, seems like it would be that much more difficult to translate into another language.
Uhh, ya think?
It’s inexcusable that all of this is taking place after worlds.