The ITA Launches Whistleblowing Platform ‘REVEAL’
The International Testing Agency (ITA) has launched its own doping reporting platform called ‘Reveal’ in order to offer additional opportunities to report doping offences. Reveal allows for suspicions to be disclosed in complete confidentiality. Close cooperation with international sports organisations, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), national anti-doping organisations and law enforcement agencies will ensure that intelligence shared through Reveal is applied in the most effective way for clean sport and athlete protection. Concrete tips about suspected doping offences are one of the most effective ways to keep sport clean. The courage of whistleblowers has shed light on many serious misconducts endangering fairness in competitions and the health of athletes in the past years. For the most part, however, it is not big scoops but individual suspicions that are disclosed; these small bits of information may help intelligence departments of anti-doping agencies detect trends and help solve bigger puzzles. In order to complement the existing global infrastructure for information sharing about doping violations, the ITA has now launched a new whistleblowing channel called ‘Reveal’. Reveal is hosted on a secured platform that allows informants to share information with the ITA in a completely confidential and anonymous manner. It has been developed in consultation with athletes and former whistleblowers and presents itself with a straightforward interface and is simple to use. Information flowing in through Reveal is processed by ITA’s Intelligence & Investigation department consisting of experts with backgrounds ranging from law enforcement, military and police, criminology, digital and physical forensics and intelligence. The platform was established to provide ITA’s partners with an independent ear where their communities can feel absolutely confident that they will be heard should they observe or become victims of doping. Reveal is an additional opportunity for informants to speak out next to already existing whistleblowing channels offered by WADA (‘Speak Up’) and National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs). Information flowing in through Reveal that does not concern any of the over 45 International Federations (IFs) and Major Event Organisers (MEOs) that delegate their anti-doping programs to the ITA will be processed with the same level of integrity and rigour and shared, where possible, with the relevant organisations. Furthermore, the ITA has agreements on information sharing with more than 20 NADOs worldwide and has entered several other collaborations with sports organisations and law enforcement agencies in order to establish Reveal as a truly holistic and globally active platform. “The launch of Reveal is an important step for the ITA”, underlines ITA Director General Benjamin Cohen. “Not only does it provide our organisation with a new essential tool which will strengthen our fight for clean sport. It gives the sport and anti-doping community a wider coverage of whistleblowing opportunities. Behind the curtains of Reveal, we are working hand in hand with all involved actors towards the common objective of maintaining the integrity of sport. I invite everyone – athletes, support personnel, coaches, parents, event organisers, officials – to share any doping offence or suspicion with us through Reveal. All persons involved in sport have a responsibility to protect its values of fair play and expose doping abuses they have heard about or seen.” WADA Director, Intelligence and Investigations, Gunter Younger, said: “Since WADA launched the ‘Speak Up!’ program in 2017, we have received hundreds of tips from whistleblowers that have assisted investigations and helped deliver justice. WADA commends the ITA for developing and launching ‘Reveal’, and we encourage other anti-doping organizations to consider doing the same. We need to provide as many options as possible to potential whistleblowers so they can feel comfortable in passing on their valuable information, knowing it will be taken seriously and treated confidentially. WADA collaborates closely with the ITA in the field of intelligence and investigations and I am confident that this new platform will further strengthen the global anti-doping system.” Click here to access Reveal.
