CCES Integrity Hotline Expanded to Manage More Reports
Report doping and competition manipulation through a secure, anonymous platform.
The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) has launched an expanded reporting service to receive reports of both doping and competition manipulation from the sport community. The CCES Integrity Hotline provides secure and anonymous means to share information or evidence with confidence.
The CCES has partnered with RealResponse to ensure the hotline meets the needs of the people who want to speak up. RealResponse is a leading provider of a safe and secure reporting platform for athletes, teams, and organizations. Their tool allows individuals to anonymously share information and evidence with the CCES Integrity Hotline by phone, text, or email.
“Protecting clean, fair, and safe sport is a collective responsibility… athletes and support personnel should feel secure and empowered to speak up if others are cheating or gaming the system. But coming forward with information takes courage and requires confidence in the reporting mechanism,” said Paul Melia, president and CEO of the CCES. “The new hotline provides stakeholders with common, easy-to-use methods to share information anonymously, thanks to RealResponse. We’re grateful to everyone who is willing to stand up for clean, fair, and safe sport.”
All reports to the hotline will be evaluated and can lead to investigations and/or targeted testing. Relevant information may also be shared with other anti-doping or integrity organizations. Report Doping, the CCES Integrity Hotline’s predecessor, has received more than 700 reports since 2013, which were used to establish multiple anti-doping rule violations across a range of sports and to guide intelligence-based test planning.
The CCES’s new strategic plan identifies competition manipulation as a priority because of its potential to be a major threat to the integrity of sport and the safety of athletes. Recently legalized in Canada, single-sport betting brings a greater likelihood of competition manipulation, which in turn places athlete safety and well-being at risk and starts to erode the public’s confidence in the integrity of the sporting competitions. This type of cheating is harder to detect than doping. We anticipate that information from the people affected by willful interference with the natural process of clean competition will be one of the significant values of the new CCES Integrity Hotline.If competition manipulation reports are made to the CCES Integrity Hotline from sports that have an existing competition manipulation policy, the CCES will work with the sport organization to ensure the relevant information is reported. However, if competition manipulation reports are received from sports that do not have a policy in place, the CCES will assess the information and determine where the information may be directed, as well as the appropriate process that will be followed.Tips to the hotline can include photos, videos, documents, and any other evidence that points to potential doping or competition manipulation. All reports will be anonymous unless the reporter chooses to reveal their identity, in which case the information will be treated as confidential.
Call or text 1-888-441-2237, or email integrity@cces.realresponse.com. For more about the CCES Integrity Hotline, go to cces.ca/integrity.
About the CCES
The CCES works collaboratively to ensure Canadians have a positive sport experience. Through its programs, the CCES manages unethical issues in sport, protects the integrity of Canadian sport, and promotes True Sport to activate values-based sport on and off the field of play. The CCES is an independent, national, not-for profit organization that is responsible for the administration of the Canadian Anti-Doping Program. The CCES acknowledges funding, in part, from the Government of Canada. For more information, visit cces.ca, follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
About RealResponse
Originally founded in 2015 and then expanded in 2020, RealResponse is a partner with more than 125 colleges and universities as well as 12 NFL teams, including the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs, the NFLPA, USADA, the NWSL and several member clubs, and a growing number of governing bodies including USA Track and Field, USA Swimming, and USA Gymnastics, giving more than 150,000 athletes and staff the ability to anonymously share feedback and concerns in a safe and secure manner. RealResponse is an online platform that allows for real-time reporting, surveys, and as a document repository. Organizations can also benchmark metrics to peer and national averages to identify areas of competitive advantage and vulnerability. Additional partnerships with international organizations, colleges and professional sports properties are expected in 2023. In 2021, RealResponse was recognized by the Charlotte Business Journal as one of the “Fifty Most Innovative Companies in the Region.” For more information about RealResponse, visit realresponse.ca.
CCES:https://cces.ca/news/cces-integrity-hotline-expanded-manage-more-reports
