CSA pours cold water on Sun return report

Fans keen to see the return of banned Sun Yang to the pool have had their hopes dashed after the Chinese Swimming Association was forced to deny a report that claimed the three-time Olympic champion could train with the national team.

On Wednesday, Beijing Youth Daily reported that Sun, who in February was banned for eight years for alleged breaches of anti-doping rules, had been permitted to join a Chinese national team training camp in Zhejiang province from April until June.

A photo of a purported official document from the Chinese Swimming Association accompanied the article. It stated that Sun and his coach should report to the Zhejiang Sports Bureau on April 1.

However, China's swimming governing body on Thursday issued a statement declaring the document invalid.

"Based on World Anti-Doping Agency rules, Sun Yang has been banned from competition since the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) made its decision," read the CSA announcement.

"That won't change during Sun's appeal to the Swiss federal tribunal against the Court of Arbitration for Sport decision. The previous No 49 document is invalid."

Sun was handed an eight-year suspension from competition in February by CAS, which ruled that Sun was in violation of doping-control regulations by rejecting a random drug test on Sept 4, 2018, in his home city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

The six-time Olympic medalist continues to protest his innocence, saying in a social media post earlier this year that he only refused to complete the test due to questions about the testers' eligibility, and that he plans to appeal the decision.

However, any legal challenge would likely not be completed in time for the Tokyo Olympics, which have been postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the contrary, the 28-year-old's medal-laden career could now be ended by the ban.

Feng Xu, sports reporter of China Central Television, revealed during a TV interview earlier this week that Sun will not give up fighting for his career as long as there's a chance he can save it.

"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sun's appeal process has been postponed. According to his agents, they are waiting for further notice from Switzerland to finish the appeal," said Feng.

"Since returning to Hangzhou in late February, Sun only rested for a single day before resuming training. It's impossible for him to stop right away as he's been training for decades. And he still won't give up. As long as there's a little chance, he'll do his best to return."

As the poster boy of Chinese swimming for over a decade, Sun's troubles have been a hot topic on Chinese social media, with news of his supposed Team China return viewed over 800 million times by Thursday afternoon.

Despite denying this week's speculation, the CSA continues to back Sun's appeal process.

"Hiring unprofessional and ineligible employees to conduct samples during testing, the doping control procedure was illegal and invalid," read a February CSA statement.

"We fully support Sun in safeguarding his legal rights. In the meantime, we hope WADA, all sports governing bodies and all doping-control agencies improve their respective protocols while strictly following the rules of personnel qualification and certification."