Sun Yang hearing: lawyer slams ‘white European men’ CAS panel, saying integrity of anti-doping justice system is also on trial
- Former Canada Olympic swimmer turned human rights lawyer Nikki Dryden says Chinese swimmer’s first hearing failed to offer any confidence in judicial procedure
- Dryden says ‘I saw a group of white men running a system that was extremely complicated and biased towards Western ideals of justice’
A leading human rights lawyer has slammed the appointment of “three white European men” on the panel for Sun Yang’s second hearing, adding that next week’s case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) not only puts the Chinese swimmer on trial but the entire anti-doping justice system.
Nikki Dryden, a two-time Olympic swimmer for Canada, said Sun’s first hearing brought by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) in November, 2019 – resulting in an eight-year ban that was quashed on appeal – left her bewildered at what she perceived to be a flawed system.
She is also surprised that no Mandarin speaker is on the CAS panel, even though Sun has the right to select an arbitrator. CAS has 10 Chinese-speaking arbitrators on its register.
“I am already disappointed in the second appeal, having seen that again three white European men have been appointed to the second panel,” Dryden told the Post. “In 2021, it is pathetic that there is no diversity of legal expertise, personal experience, and cultural background on a case that has already been found to have had racial and cultural bias.
“Sun is a Chinese man, that no Chinese arbitrator is on the panel is shocking to me. I don’t understand why he [Sun] hasn’t selected a Chinese arbitrator, or even someone from a similar legal system as his.
