ABSTRACT
Heightened awareness towards corruption in global sport has intensified the need for individuals to play an active role in deterring wrongdoing and whistleblowing has emerged as a promising avenue for achieving this. Yet, understanding of the behaviour in the sporting context is limited and high-profile cases (e.g. Stepanovs and Russian doping) have cast a negative shadow on the behaviour; in turn, likely hindering individuals from bringing information forward in the future. Whistleblowing is a complex issue and enticing individuals to engage with the behaviour requires strategic and persistent effort.
Cycling has been particularly impacted by doping and whistleblowing. Following multiple doping scandals (e.g. Festina Affair, Lance Armstrong), the sport took active steps towards exposing and eradicating doping. This involved introducing new anti-doping rules that include explicit incentives for individuals to whistleblow on doping. Such actions appear to be curtailing the notorious ‘omerta culture’ that has permeated cycling and represent a positive step towards achieving a culture of intolerance towards doping. Yet, their influence on actual whistleblowing engagement is unclear. Accordingly, this chapter (i) introduces the concept of whistleblowing, (ii) contextualises it within sport, (iii) considers it in cycling, and (iv) offers recommendations for creating a whistleblowing culture in cycling.
