Doping court sets date for Chinese swimming champ Sun

Lausanne  - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has given Chinese Olympic and world champion swimmer Sun Yang, accused of smashing a doping test sample with a hammer, a November court date, swimming's governing body said Monday.

"The CAS hearing concerning the swimmer Sun will take place on November 15 in Montreux," an official for FINA, the world swimming federation, told AFP.

The court action follows an explosive report from FINA's own anti-doping committee in January saying Sun had used a hammer to smash a blood sample during an out-of-competition test in September last year.

However FINA agreed with Sun, winner of multiple world and Olympic titles, that testers had failed to produce adequate identification or follow protocol during the testing, clearing him of wrongdoing.

But the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) responded by taking the case to CAS.

In a break with the CAS tradition of holding sessions behind closed doors, the hearing will be open to the public and will take place away from the court's headquarters in Lausanne.

"At the parties' request, the hearing will be open to the public," said CAS in a statement. "It is intended to live stream all or parts of the hearing on the CAS website."

CAS pointed out that this will be the second time it has held a hearing in public. The first, in 1999, also involved a swimmer, Michelle Smith De Bruin.

The hearing was originally fixed for September but postponed at the request of one of the parties, CAS said in August.