GENEVA • Chinese swim star Sun Yang's anti-doping case, in which he is facing a possible eight-year ban for missing a drug test, will not be settled before the middle of next month because of translation problems, said the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The three-time Olympic champion, who served a doping suspension in 2014, has been accused of smashing a blood vial with a hammer following a visit by testers in September last year.

CAS revealed on Tuesday that issues resulting from the "quality of the interpretation" of Sun's testimony from Mandarin into English at the one-day hearing on Nov 15 would delay the verdict.

Its statement added: "The parties are preparing an agreed-upon written transcript of the proceedings, including a full translation of Mr Sun's testimony, which the panel will work from when deliberating and preparing the arbitral award."

Sun's hearing, the first in 20 years that was open to the public, was beset by technical difficulties and interpreting errors, which frustrated lawyers and held up proceedings.

CAS has claimed the private translation service was provided by Sun's camp and agreed upon by both parties, adding it could not hire its own interpreters for reasons of "independence and neutrality".

Swimming governing body Fina in January acquitted him of anti-doping violations, agreeing that testers had failed to produce adequate identification during the incident at his Hangzhou home.

The ruling outraged the World Anti-Doping Agency, which took the matter to the CAS, demanding a ban of between two and eight years for missing the test.

At a training session in Beijing yesterday, Sun, 28, insisted that "everything that happened on the night of Sept 4, 2018, looked bizarre".

He told Chinese news agency Xinhua: "One official had never received any training in doping control, and they agreed not to take away my samples because they lacked the proper credentials.

"The funny thing is that they brought with them a foam box, like one for storing seafood, instead of a standard collection box."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, XINHUA