(ATR) The IOC tells Around the Rings the reason for a lack of activity with its whistleblower hotline is alerts outside the body’s jurisdiction.
Last week, non-governmental organization "Play the Game" reported on a lack of transparency with the whistleblower hotline. The hotline has been in place since April 2015, but little information about the use of the hotline has been published since then.
Spokesperson for Transparency International Deborah Unger, questioned if the hotline had an independent ombudsman, and raised concerns about the operation’s overall independence.
"Our message has always been that it is time to act rather than sign up to principles," Unger said. "In a closed environment like sport, there has always been a lot of talk about doing things and then little action."
An IOC spokesperson told ATR that the hotline has received 17 "integrity alerts" concerning the Olympic Movement, since beginning operation, but none were about the IOC itself. The hotline has also seen over 1000 alerts, but none fell within the IOC’s purview.
"Many of them were related to just one specific topic for which action was already being taken," the IOC spokesperson said. "If alerts are linked to the IOC, it is up to the IOC Ethics Commission to look into it."
The spokesperson said that most requests are passed along to either relevant international federations or National Olympic Committees when the information is outside of the IOC’s scope. Otherwise the IOC Ethics and Compliance Office is set to handle all whistleblower requests.
"The Ethics and Compliance Office which is independent of the IOC, evaluates any cases related to the IOC and decides if they should be passed on to the Ethics Commission, which is also independent, for further consideration," the spokesperson said about the arrangement.
"All doping related alerts should go directly to the WADA hotline for which a link appears on the website."
Written by Aaron Bauer
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