When you join a testing pool, you are required to file your Whereabouts each quarter. Our decision to include you in the Registered Testing Pool (RTP) or National Testing Pool (NTP) is based on a number of factors. These may include:

• Your current performance level (i.e. athletes who are likely to be attending international competitions, such as the Olympics, Paralympics or World Championships and are medal contenders);

• Physical demands of your sport and the possible performance-enhancing effect of doping;

• Available research on doping trends, including current and past doping analysis and statistics;

• Recent status changes (e.g. returning to competition after injury);

• Withdrawal or absence from expected competition;

• Sudden improvement in performance;

• Sports performance history;

• Returning to competition or sport after serving a sanction;

• Reliable information from a third party;

• Increased ability to locate you for testing.

Information requirements

Your Whereabouts information is protected on a secure website and is kept strictly confidential. It is only shared with WADA and other anti-doping organisations for the purpose of testing.

You must provide accurate and up-to-date information including:

• A primary residential address

• Mailing address, email, phone number (confirmed quarterly) 

• Overnight accommodation full and complete address, including apartment buzzer codes, flat numbers, security gate numbers and detailed information on how to reach you if needed, hotel address and room number 

• Competition schedules (including dates, locations and accommodation details) 

• Travel plans (including travel dates and times, destination, flight and accommodation details 

• Regular activities, this includes education schedules, employment commitments, and other routine personal activities (e.g. physiotherapy, rehab appointments that occur routinely, regular team meetings, other predictable activity) 

• Regular training activities, this includes normal training sessions and venues. If more than one location or type of training is used, please identify these. 

60-minute timeslot (RTP athletes only)

If you are an RTP athlete, you are also required to specify a 60-minute timeslot, between 5am and 11pm each day, in which you will be available for testing at a specified location. Select a timeslot that best fits your schedule and ensure you are available and accessible for the entire 60-minute period each day. It is recommended that these are recorded and maintained as separate entries.  

• You must provide sufficient detail so that a Doping Control Officer can locate you for testing without providing any advanced notice.

• The location must be suitable for sample collection and accessible to a Doping Control Officer.

Representatives submitting on your behalf

You can choose to have a representative, such as a team manager, partner or parent, file your Whereabouts information on your behalf. However, you are responsible for the accuracy and timing of any information submitted, and any consequences should the Whereabouts information be incorrect or incomplete.

Please notify us if you choose to have a representative manage your Whereabouts. Send us an email at [email protected]  with your contact details and your representative’s contact details. 

Holidays, overseas travel and injury

Going on holiday or being injured does not excuse you from your Whereabouts responsibilities. You must still have accurate whereabouts for every day of the year, no matter what you’re doing.

If you’re overseas and can’t log in to Athlete Central because you’ve changed your sim card (and can’t access your SMS authentication code), we can help you disable your SMS TOTP for access. Just contact us at [email protected].

Last-minute changes

We appreciate that you may not always know the full details of your schedule in advance, or that you may need to update your Whereabouts due to unforeseen circumstances. You must update your Whereabouts at any time if your plans change or details were not previously known. Updates must be made as soon as possible and always before the relevant 60‑minute timeslot. You can quickly update your Whereabouts on the go through the Athlete Central app.

Retiring from sport

If you retire while in a Commission Testing Pool, you must notify us in writing and your NSO of your intention to retire. You will need to give six months notice if you ever choose to return to competitive sport. Email us at [email protected] 

Whereabouts failures may be any combination of Filing Failures or Missed Tests and can be issued by the Commission or your International Federation.

A Failure can be recorded against you for the following reasons:

Filing failures

• You fail to submit complete and detailed Whereabouts information by the deadline.

• You submit filings late and miss the WADA quarterly deadline for filing Whereabouts information.

• You fail to update your Whereabouts information during the quarter to ensure that it remains accurate.

Missed test

• You miss a test during your designated 60-minute time slot. 

Consequences

If you are an RTP athlete and fail to comply with the Whereabouts requirements without good reason, you will have a Whereabouts Failure or strike recorded against your name. Your National Sport Organisation, International Federation and WADA will be notified of any strike recorded against you.

For RTP athletes, any combination of three missed tests and/or filing failures in a 12-month period equals a possible Anti-Doping Rules Violation. This could result in a ban from all sport for up to two years. 

If you are an NTP athlete and fail to comply with your Whereabouts requirements (such as through a filing failure), you will receive a warning letter. Your NSO will be notified.

Two warnings within one Whereabouts quarter, or three warnings within 12-months will result in a review of your testing pool status and potentially result in your escalation to the Registered Testing pool, where the Whereabouts requirements are more demanding and the consequences for Whereabouts Failures are more severe. We may review your testing pool status at any time.

Whereabouts help and support

If you have any questions or need personal help with your Whereabouts, you can call us on 0800 378 437 or email us at [email protected].

Click below to download our Whereabouts Compliance Guide.

Appeals

All letters regarding a Whereabouts Failure (either a Missed Test or a Filing Failure) will advise you that you can appeal the decision. If you believe that you have not committed a Whereabouts Failure, you are required to provide as much detail as possible to support your claim. We will then assess your claim and respond accordingly.