Sun Yang is free to swim and the Court of Arbitration is on notice

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court’s decision to set aside the eight-year ban given in February to Chinese world and Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang has made headlines around the globe.

It’s a landmark case that is far from over with questions that go to the very heart of anti-doping, sports justice and athletes’ rights.

The decision is monumental in two ways.

Firstly, it’s not impossible but extremely rare for the Swiss court to set aside findings of the Court of Arbitration (CAS). It does not review findings as you might expect in a traditional appeal process, but only considers matters of “procedural irregularity”.

Secondly, the procedural irregularity in this case centres on one of the senior arbitrators at the CAS — former Italian…