The Court of Arbitration for Sport is set to hand swimmer Junya Koga a less severe ban after he filed an appeal over his four-year suspension for failed drug tests last year, sources said Monday.
According to sources, the CAS is set to shorten the ban that Koga received from FINA to two years.
The suspension is expected to be lifted next May, but the 31-year-old will not be able to compete at April's national championships, which doubles as a qualifier for next summer's Tokyo Olympics.
Koga, who competed in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, tested positive for banned muscle-building agents in March last year. He has said that the test result was caused by dietary supplements and denied intentional use of banned drugs.
Koga won the gold medal in the men's 100-meter backstroke at the world championships in 2009.