ABSTRACT
Since its introduction in 2004, and even more so since the introduction of the revised version in 2009, the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) whereabouts system, which requires athletes to report their whereabouts and to be available for drug testing on 365 days a year, has proved controversial. Although some form of reporting is a necessity for effective doping controls in competition or out of competition (Hanstad and Loland 2009), many commentators have focused on the general issues of principle raised by the system and, in particular, whether the system may be considered to breach the civil rights and privacy of athletes (Møller 2009a, 2009b; Waddington and Smith 2009; Waddington, 2010). Such studies have raised a number of important issues in terms of the implications of the whereabouts system for athletes. However, the system also has a number of important implications, not just for those who are subject to the system (i.e. elite athletes), but also for those organizations that are charged with the responsibility of organizing and implementing the whereabouts system at a national level (i.e. national anti-doping organizations).
