Chinese authorities back Olympic champ amid claims he broke anti-doping rules

The Chinese Swimming Association on Sunday protested the innocence of Olympic champion Sun Yang after a British newspaper reported he is facing a lifetime ban for violating anti-doping rules.

The Sunday Times claimed that Sun and one of his security guards destroyed a sealed blood sample after questioning the credibility of three drug testers during an out-of-competition test on Sept 4 last year in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

However, in a statement released on Sunday evening, the CSA described the story as untrue and said its stance against doping is as strong as ever.

According to the CSA, Sun rejected the test because the three testing officials, who all claimed to be employees of International Doping Tests and Management (IDTM), could not provide documentation to prove the process was legitimate.

IDTM is a third-party organization that conducts tests on behalf of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Two of the testers, who failed to show adequate proof of identification, were later found to be untrained acquaintances of the main tester, who holds an IDTM certificate, according to Sun's attorney, Zhang Qihuai of Beijing Lanpeng Law Firm.

Zhang said earlier on Sunday that the report targeting Sun was "inaccurate and groundless" and had infringed the 27-year-old's privacy and sullied his reputation. Consequently, Sun plans to sue The Sunday Times.

Without proving their eligibility or conducting the test properly, the IDTM officials made "false statements" in their test reports and "fabricated facts that Sun had violated WADA's anti-doping code", Zhang added.

Neither Zhang nor the CSA made reference in their statements to the allegation in the Times report that Sun's mother had ordered one of the security guards to destroy a vial of her son's blood.

World swimming's governing body FINA held a 13-hour hearing in Lausanne, Switzerland on Nov 19, attended by Sun, Zhang and witnesses regarding the case.

The IDTM-certificated official took part in the hearing via video link in China while the other two testers were absent, according to Zhang. A FINA panel ruled on Jan 3 that Sun did not violate any anti-doping regulations.

"As a result, the sample collection session initiated by IDTM on Sept 4, 2018, is invalid and void... Sun Yang did not commit an anti-doping rule violation under FINA DC 2.3 or FINA DC 2.5," the CSA quoted a FINA decision as saying.

However, with the deadline nearing for appeals to be lodged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, WADA has reportedly requested more information on the incident.

While FINA cleared Sun of wrongdoing in its hearing, The Times report suggested WADA is far from satisfied, with a senior source describing the events as "unbelievable and unacceptable".

By Sunday evening, there had been no official response from WADA to the Times report.

As the biggest swimming star in China, Sun has won all the Olympic freestyle disciplines from 200m to 1,500m, as well as nine long-course world titles from 2011-17.

Sun served a three-month CSA suspension prior to the 2014 Asian Games after testing positive for stimulant trimetazidine, which had been added to the WADA banned list in the beginning of that year.