The Chinese Swimming Association (CSA) has thrown its support behind controversial superstar Sun Yang who has threatened legal action over claims he allegedly clashed with drug testers and smashed a vial of blood with a hammer.
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The CSA issued a statement dismissing a report by British newspaper The Sunday Times which claimed Sun was involved in a confrontation with doping officials and broke protocols at an out-of-competition test on September 4 at his home in Zhejiang province.
Sun was famously called a "drug cheat" by Australia's Mack Horton at the 2016 Olympics after the Chinese star was banned for three months in 2014 for taking a stimulant.
Sun's lawyer Zhang Qihuai issued a statement saying that the newspaper report had "severely damaged Sun Yang's reputation and violated his privacy".
"We reserve the right to file a lawsuit against the relevant international media which reported the incident," it said on the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The lawyer said testers and the attending nurse had failed to produce authorisation and were rejected by the three-time Olympic gold medallist.
A FINA doping panel hearing that investigated the incident ruled in world record holder Sun's favour on January 3.
The Sunday Times report said after FINA cleared Sun, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was "furious" and are considering launching an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
But the CSA said the FINA doping panel's probe last month had proven that Sun had not broken any rules.
"We believe that the (The Sunday Times) report is not true," the statement said.
"The decision made by the FINA anti-doping committee on this case clearly states: 'The doping test performed on September 4, 2018 is ineffective'.
"The (doping) agent's certificate and the nurse's practice certificate violated the FINA anti-doping rules and relevant international standards.
"The athlete considered the inspection to be illegal and invalid, which led to the inability to complete the inspection."
The CSA said the controversial star had co-operated fully with the FINA doping panel during their investigation.
"The China Swimming Association has consistently adhered to the firm stance of anti-doping and has zero tolerance for doping issues," it said.
"The association will continue to strengthen anti-doping work and strictly abide by anti-doping regulations."
The Sunday Times report claimed a confrontation took place at Sun's home when testers arrived in September.
"A clash with anti-doping testers ended in him and his security guard using a hammer to smash a sealed vial containing the swimmer's blood," it said.
The Sunday Times report said WADA "demanded to know more about the extraordinary events" after FINA cleared Sun and were mulling over a CAS appeal.
Australian Associated Press
