Testing FAQ

A Registered Testing Pool, also known as an RTP, is the highest tier pool of International or National level athletes established by an International Federation for a particular sport and/or a National Anti-Doping Organisations to enable no advance notice testing. Athletes are selected for the RTP based on various criteria detailed in WADA’s International Standard for Testing & Investigation.

Athletes can check their understanding of RTP requirements and whereabouts via an interactive WADA RTP quiz:

Anti-Doping Education and Learning (wada-ama.org)

Please refer to the whereabouts section to check whereabouts requirements for RTP athletes.

The tier below a Registered Testing Pool is known as the Testing Pool (TP). This is the secondary pool of athletes established by International Federations for a particular sport and/or a National Anti-Doping Organisations.

Please refer to the whereabouts section to check whereabouts requirements for TP athletes.

Athletes that receive an official Notification of Inclusion in the TP/RTP are required to submit and update whereabouts in ADAMS/Athlete Central app during which TP/RTP athletes can be subject to testing on a no advance notice basis.

Athletes that receive an official Notification of Exclusion stop being part of the IF TP/RTP and are no longer required to provide whereabouts information. However, the National Anti-Doping Organisation (“NADO”) may still require Athletes to submit whereabouts to them. Accordingly, we advise Athletes to get in touch with the NADO to obtain further information in this regard.

Whereabouts is information provided by athletes to enable the ITA and other Anti-Doping Organisations to locate athletes for out-of-competition testing.  An athlete’s whereabouts information must be accurate and up to date at all times.

This whereabouts information must be submitted in ADAMS/Athlete Central app and includes the following:

RTP:

1. An up-to-date mailing address (street name, house number, floor, postal code, city, country) and email address where correspondence may be sent to you for formal notice purposes;
2. At least one designated phone number that the ITA will use, if necessary to reach you for Testing and notice purposes.
3. One daily specific 60-minute time slot between 5am and 11pm where you guarantee to be available and accessible for Testing.
4. Your overnight accommodation for each day. This is the place where you will be staying overnight (e.g. home, temporary lodging, hotel, etc.);
5. Any and all your training and regular activities that are part of your regular routine (training at the gym, regular physio sessions, school, work, etc.);
6. Your travel schedule;
7. Your competition schedule;
8. Any additional information deemed necessary to enable any ADO intending to locate you for Testing, namely sufficient information to gain access to the location and find you at the location, without prior notice.

 TP:

1. An up-to-date mailing address (street name, house number, floor, postal code, city, country) and email address where correspondence may be sent to you for formal notice purposes;
2. At least one designated phone number that the ITA will use, if necessary to reach you for Testing and notice purposes.
3. Your overnight accommodation for each day. This is the place where you will be staying overnight (e.g. home, temporary lodging, hotel, etc.);
4. Any and all your training and regular activities that are part of your regular routine (training at the gym, regular physio sessions, school, work, etc.);
5. Your competition schedule;
6. Any additional information deemed necessary to enable any ADO intending to locate you for Testing, namely sufficient information to gain access to the location and find you at the location, without prior notice.

Out-of-Competition testing i vital for protecting the integrity of your sport as well as detecting and deterring athletes from doping. As an athlete, it is important to submit whereabouts information to enable the ITA and other anti-doping organisations to locate athletes for testing any place, any time with no advance notice.

Generally speaking, athletes are required to file a three-month schedule containing the abovementioned whereabouts information before the start of each quarter. For International Federations delegated to the ITA, the deadline to submit whereabouts filings is the 15^th of the month prior to the start of the new quarter, as follows:

When filing your information for the upcoming quarter, you may not be aware of your exact whereabouts for each day for the next three months. Nonetheless,
please make sure to provide your whereabouts information for each day within the set deadline and to the best of your knowledge.
Once your schedule is confirmed or your initial plans change, you must update your whereabouts as soon as possible.

There are several consequences to not providing accurate whereabouts, submitting whereabouts after the quarterly deadline and to not being present at the location indicated in ADAMS without a valid reason:

Filing Failure – Any athlete who is included in the RTP and who submits late, inaccurate or incomplete whereabouts that lead to him/her being unavailable for testing, may receive a Filing Failure.

Missed Test (RTP only) – Any athlete who is included in the RTP may also receive a Missed Test if he/she is not available for testing during a 60-minute timeslot.

Any combination of three Whereabouts failures (Filing Failure and/or Missed Test) within a 12-month period may constitute an Anti-Doping Rule Violation and a potential two-year ban from sport.

If you are unable to access the internet, you can update your whereabouts information in ADAMS via SMS.
Here is how you can activate this option in your ADAMS profile:
https://adams-help.wada-ama.org/hc/en-us/articles/360016008300-Activating-Whereabouts-Updates-via-SMS

You have several possibilities:
1. Update your whereabouts via SMS.
2. Send an e-mail containing your whereabouts information to the ITA via the “Contact Us” form.
3. Request a manual whereabouts template from the ITA via the “Contact Us” form.

Please use the Contact Us form to get in touch.