UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) reported that, since launching its whistleblower initiative, Protect Your Sport, in November 2020, it received a record number of tip-offs in 2024. This indicates that a record number of whistleblowers anonymously reported suspicions of sports doping in the UK to UKAD.
When UKAD launched Protect Your Sport in November 2020, it received 10 reports that year. It then received 75 reports in 2021, 110 in 2022, and 184 reports across 25 sports in 2023.
Last year, UKAD’s Intelligence and Investigations Team, which was created to boost “the number of intelligence reports coming through to the organisation from the elite sport community,” received 211 reports of suspected doping misconduct across 30 sports and therefore hit record numbers.
Mario Theophanous, UKAD’s Head of Intelligence and Investigations, expressed: “One of the main reasons that we release these reporting numbers is to show individuals who are unsure or uncertain about reporting that you're not alone - there are others like you who want to protect the integrity of their sport.”
An anonymous coach described his experience of whistleblowing to UKAD:
“I didn’t overthink reporting it, I’d made my mind up that I was going to do it immediately when I became aware of the potential doping…
It's the stigma isn’t it that can put some people off reporting? It could be seen as you are grassing somebody up, and that person could be one of your friends, it could be someone that you respect in your sport, or even a teammate. I understand people could find it difficult but it’s against the rules for a reason. You’ve got to protect your sport and stand up for the integrity of your sport.”
The coach also added: “If you’ve not done anti-doping education or training, you sometimes may not know it’s a doping violation. If you know it’s being done and choose to ignore it or don’t report it, you’ve got to think about your own integrity too, are you happy to know that someone is doping?...
It's an irrational thought, but for me I did worry that people were going to associate my coaching with this person. I thought ‘are they going to forever associate me with someone who coached a doper?’, thankfully it hasn’t worked out like that.”
In 2023, UKAD employed a behavioural design agency to research the whistleblowing process, including the motivations and barriers people experience making doping reports. The research group, which included athletes and athlete support personnel, told UKAD they were motivated to report incidents that impacted “fairness” in sport, but were concerned that their identity might not remain anonymous.
In response to this, UKAD established an anonymous SMS and WhatsApp service where the reporter can message a UKAD investigator anonymously, which helps explain the rising number of reports. Previously, the methods included email, anonymous hotline, or an online form; WhatsApp is the newest addition.
UKAD is unable to view the names and numbers of the reporters, it can only have a conversation with them whilst being blind to their personal information. UKAD is working with tech experts RealResponse for the Protect Your Sport texting and WhatsApp services.
Founder and CEO of RealResponse, David Chadwick, stated: “With WhatsApp as part of UKAD's portfolio of reporting tools, athletes have yet another popular and protected mode of communication through which to share information confidentially and anonymously.”
Theophanous expressed: “The new WhatsApp and SMS anonymous service allows athletes and support personnel to quickly share information with us anonymously, and the service allows our investigators to reply to the person reporting in real-time, gathering the necessary evidence we need to conduct our investigations…
We hope to encourage other individuals who may have information but fear reporting it, to take the decisive action and raise their concerns to Protect Your Sport anonymously.”
He also voiced: “It's important to UKAD that athletes and the sporting community feel safe talking to us, and that we normalise the reporting of doping in sport.”
RealResponse has been and continues to collaborate with numerous anti-doping organisations worldwide, including the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, the US Anti-Doping Agency, and the International Testing Agency, among others.
According to the UKAD website, fifteen individuals were sanctioned in the UK last year for Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs). Five of these individuals went on to be charged with ADRVs after they were reported to UKAD’s Protect Your Sport. Reporting also helps UKAD to carry out their targeted testing programme across more than 50 sports, and to intervene and disrupt potential doping in the future.
UKAD’s official statement can be found here: https://www.ukad.org.uk/news/calling-out-doping-sport-uk-anti-doping-welcomes-record-number-whistleblowing-reports
