Andy Parkinson, UK Sport’s Director of Drug-Free Sport, has sought to calm recent concerns expressed about new athlete whereabouts rules which came in to place at the start of the year. He describes the requirement of certain athletes to provide whereabouts information for one hour a day, seven days a week as “a small price to pay for clean athletes to help us drive cheats out of sport”.
Parkinson said: “What we have at the moment is a situation where many sportsmen and women are either being asked to provide whereabouts for the first time or, as is the case with the majority, in more detail that was previously the case. This will obviously take a little time for them to get used to and is exactly why we put so much emphasis firstly on properly training athletes so they fully understand what is required of them, and then providing continued support in the shape of regular text reminders and other services. Our experience shows that athletes soon build this into their daily routine, and it simply becomes part of what they are paid to do.
“I think in many ways too much significance is attached to the hour time slot; it is just one mechanism we use for testing athletes. With the information available to us through the system we increase our ability to test outside the designated hour, making our programme more unpredictable and increasing the chances of catching athletes who are breaking the rules, while protecting those who are clean.
“While I do have some sympathy for the fairly small number of athletes who are required to meet these requirements, I strongly believe the whereabouts rules are proportionate to the risk of doping in sport. I would think that it’s a small price to pay for clean athletes to help us drive cheats out of sport.
“Essentially, the ability to test athletes at no advance notice is fundamental to our work and the only way to do this is to know where athletes are for a limited period each day. Without it we might as well pack up, go home and let the cheats win. Personally that’s not something I’m prepared to do. I think the system we have in place is the right one, and I’m more than happy to sit down with anyone to explain it and any misconceptions they might have about it.”
