Last year saw the highest record of doping reports to UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) since the launch of its Protect Your Sport reporting campaign (November 2020).

UKAD’s Intelligence and Investigations Team received 211 reports of suspected doping misconduct across 30 sports in 2024 (January – December). These numbers have been rising year-on-year since 2020, with UKAD receiving 184 reports in 2023, 110 reports in 2022 and 75 reports in 2021.

The anti-doping organisation has seen a gradual change in attitude towards reporting, with more individuals prepared to share information with UKAD if their identity is kept anonymous. The Protect Your Sport initiative was first launched in November 2020 with the aim of boosting the number of intelligence reports coming through to the organisation from the elite sport community.

Mario Theophanous, UKAD’s Head of Intelligence and Investigations, said: “It’s important to UKAD that athletes and the sporting community feel safe talking to us, and that we normalise the reporting of doping in sport. One of the main reasons that we release these reporting numbers is to show individuals who are unsure or uncertain about reporting that you’re not alone – there are others like you who want to protect the integrity of their sport.”

In 2023, UKAD commissioned a behavioural design agency to research the whistleblowing process, including the motivations and barriers people experience making doping reports. The research group, which included athletes and athlete support personnel, told UKAD they were motivated to report incidents that impacted ‘fairness’ in sport, but were concerned that their identity might not remain anonymous.

To counter the concerns around identification, UKAD has recently launched an anonymous SMS and WhatsApp service. This new service is already proving a popular method for individuals to speak directly to UKAD, allowing the reporter to message a UKAD investigator anonymously. UKAD cannot see the name or number of the person reporting but can reply to messages and hold a text conversation.

Mario Theophanous continued: “The new WhatsApp and SMS anonymous service allows athletes and support personnel to quickly share information with us anonymously, and the service allows our investigators to reply to the person reporting in real-time, gathering the necessary evidence we need to conduct our investigations.

“We hope to encourage other individuals who may have information but fear reporting it, to take the decisive action and raise their concerns to Protect Your Sport anonymously”.

Fifteen individuals were sanctioned in the UK last year for Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs). Five of these individuals went on to be charged with ADRVs after they were reported to UKAD’s Protect Your Sport. Reporting also helps UKAD to carry out their targeted testing programme across more than 50 sports, and to intervene and disrupt potential doping in the future.

You can report doping suspicions to UKAD’s Protect Your Sport by WhatsApp and SMS anonymously (07822 023233), email (pys@reportdoping.com), online (search: Protect Your Sport), or by phone (08000 32 23 32).

To find out more and to report your suspicions of doping, search Protect Your Sport.