Whereabouts & retirements
Whereabouts are information provided by a limited number of top elite athletes about their location to the International Sport Federation (IF) or National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) that included them in their respective registered testing pool as part of these top elite athletes' anti-doping responsibilities.
They are one of the most powerful means of deterrence and detection of doping and are an important step in strengthening athlete and public confidence in doping-free sport. Accurate whereabouts information is crucial to ensure efficiency of the anti-doping programs, which are
designed to protect the integrity of sport and to protect clean athletes.
Whereabouts rules are part of the International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI). The ISTI is mandatory for Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs, including IFs, NADOs, Major Games Organizers, etc.) that have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code (the document harmonizing anti-doping rules in all sports).
Retirements: when an athlete retires, he is no longer subject to doping controls. All IF-licensed athletes who decide to retire from completion must inform the IF.
For RTP athletes, as soon as the retirement is officially confirmed to the IF, the athlete will be withdrawn from e IF’s RTP with immediate effect. If an athlete wishes to resume competing, they will not be able to do so until they have given the IF written notice of their intent to resume competing and mad themselves available for testing for a period of six months.
Please consult Article 5.7 of the WBSC Anti-Doping Rules.