BEIJING (XINHUA) - The Chinese Swimming Association on Thursday (April 23) denied media reports that Sun Yang has been called up for a national team training camp.

Local media on Wednesday released a photo copy of a previous notice sent by the Swimming Management Centre of the General Administration of Sport of China to the Sports Bureau of Zhejiang province, and Sun's name was on the list of athletes to join the national team training camp in Zhejiang from April 1 to June 30.

"According to the World Anti-Doping Code, Sun Yang is serving an eight-year ban commencing on the date of the arbitral award. His appealing against the decision does not change the fact that he is still serving the suspension. The previous notice is obsolete," China's swimming governing body said in a statement.

The Chinese three-time Olympic champion was handed an eight-year ban starting from February 28, 2020 when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced its decision to uphold the World Anti-Doping Agency's (Wada) appeal over Sun's refusal to complete a doping test conducted by the international testing company IDTM on February 8, 2018.

Sun announced he would appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal against the CAS decision immediately after it was announced, but the appeal was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.