“Whereabouts Rule” violations by Manchester City, Bournemouth and Fleetwood Town

In February/March 2017, the FA (which handles anti-doping testing for English football in collaboration with UK Anti-Doping) fined Manchester City £35,000 (See www.thefa.com, on 16 February 2017 (approx. EUR 41,500), Bournemouth £35,000 (See www.thefa.com, on 9 March 2017) and Fleetwood Town £4,000 (See www.thefa.com, on 1 February 2017) (approx. EUR 4,800) for failing to report the whereabouts of their players on three separate occasions.

What is the FA’s whereabouts rule?

Essentially, clubs are required to keep the FA informed of the location of their players in order to facilitate drug-testing. This would include providing the times of training sessions, home addresses of players or other addresses where the team may stay overnight.

Rule 14 of the Doping Regulations contained in the Rules and Regulations of the FA (“the FA Doping Regulations”) states as follows:[4]

“14. Club whereabouts information:

(a) All Clubs must furnish The FA upon request with any whereabouts information The FA requires from time to time in respect of any Players who are not IRTP Players or NRTP Players. That information shall include as a minimum:

(i) training...

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“Whereabouts Rule” violations by Manchester City, Bournemouth and Fleetwood Town

What is the FA’s whereabouts rule?

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