New legal aid group wants to help whistle-blowers
By Rebecca R Ruiz
Inspired by the Russian doping scandal, a new non-profit foundation is offering financial and legal assistance to whistle-blowers with information about cheating in sports. The foundation, Fair Sport, is working with the World Anti-Doping Agency and plans to help protect and advice people who have evidence that could inform the agency’s investigations as well as related government investigations into bribery, corruption or drug trafficking. Whistle-blowers approved by Fair Sport’s board of directors — which includes a venture capitalist, a former United States federal prosecutor and a four-time Olympic speedskating gold medallist from Norway — will be eligible for assistance with a range of services, including housing, criminal defence, immigration applications and counselling.
“Most of the big cases of cheating have been revealed because of whistleblowers,” said Johann Koss, the speedskating medalist and a founder of Fair Sport. “But most of the people who’ve come out and talked have been totally isolated afterward.”
Drawing on private donations and commitments from international law firms to provide their services without fees, the organisation is seeking to minimise the risk whistle-blowers face in speaking out, emphasising confidentiality while empowering people who are jeopardising their livelihoods and possibly incriminating themselves.
Fair Sport, registered as a non-profit in both the United States and Britain, hopes to raise $3 million to $5 million this year, Koss said. A majority of the money will go toward whistle-blower expenses, he said, while some is expected to be used to vet candidates before the foundation agrees to help them. Rebecca R Ruiz Fair Sport is completing an agreement with WADA, the antidoping regulator, under which each may refer witnesses to the other. The foundation does not plan to conduct investigations itself aside from initially assessing the credibility of those it might help, Koss said; it will instead hand information over to WADA or the proper authorities.
That collaboration will supplement WADA’s new whistle-blower program, which solicits tips on cheating through a secure website that was started last week and outlines a protocol for handling them. Fair Sport and WADA’s whistleblower program both grew out of the cases of Yuliya and Vitaly Stepanov, a married couple who first spoke out about systematic doping in Russian track and field, and Grigory Rodchenkov, the former director of Russia’s national antidoping laboratory, whose tellall account of Russia’s governmentordered cheating had major ramifications for Russia’s athletes and the global antidoping system.
The Stepanovs and Dr. Rodchenkov have left Russia and have lived in hiding in the United States, expressing concerns about their personal safety while relying on individual donations since leaving their jobs. They have been vilified in Russia, called traitors by officials and state media.
“They took risks with not only their lives but also financially, and it became clear there was really no support for whistle-blowers,” said Bryan Fogel, a filmmaker who financed Dr Rodchenkov’s move to Los Angeles in late 2015 and produced a documentary about the Russian doping scandal. Jim Swartz, an American venture capitalist and founder of the company that produced the documentary, conceived of Fair Sport after seeing the risk D r Rodchenkov had opened himself up to in speaking out about the orders the Russian sports ministry had given him to “win at any cost.”
Though many of the principal players are from North America, former US federal prosecutor Edwin Stier said the foundation planned to establish relationships with investigators and lawyers throughout the world, hoping to be poised to protect informants of any nationality.
WADA has faced strong criticism over its treatment of the Stepanovs — who had approached the regulator with information on Russian doping as early as 2010 but ultimately turned to the news media when the regulator did not act.
Inspired by the Russian doping scandal, a new non-profit foundation is offering financial and legal assistance to whistle-blowers with information about cheating in sports. The foundation, Fair Sport, is working with the World Anti-Doping Agency and plans to help protect and advice people who have evidence that could inform the agency’s investigations as well as related government investigations into bribery, corruption or drug trafficking. Whistle-blowers approved by Fair Sport’s board of directors — which includes a venture capitalist, a former United States federal prosecutor and a four-time Olympic speedskating gold medallist from Norway — will be eligible for assistance with a range of services, including housing, criminal defence, immigration applications and counselling.
“Most of the big cases of cheating have been revealed because of whistleblowers,” said Johann Koss, the speedskating medalist and a founder of Fair Sport. “But most of the people who’ve come out and talked have been totally isolated afterward.”
Drawing on private donations and commitments from international law firms to provide their services without fees, the organisation is seeking to minimise the risk whistle-blowers face in speaking out, emphasising confidentiality while empowering people who are jeopardising their livelihoods and possibly incriminating themselves.
Fair Sport, registered as a non-profit in both the United States and Britain, hopes to raise $3 million to $5 million this year, Koss said. A majority of the money will go toward whistle-blower expenses, he said, while some is expected to be used to vet candidates before the foundation agrees to help them. Rebecca R Ruiz Fair Sport is completing an agreement with WADA, the antidoping regulator, under which each may refer witnesses to the other. The foundation does not plan to conduct investigations itself aside from initially assessing the credibility of those it might help, Koss said; it will instead hand information over to WADA or the proper authorities.
That collaboration will supplement WADA’s new whistle-blower program, which solicits tips on cheating through a secure website that was started last week and outlines a protocol for handling them. Fair Sport and WADA’s whistleblower program both grew out of the cases of Yuliya and Vitaly Stepanov, a married couple who first spoke out about systematic doping in Russian track and field, and Grigory Rodchenkov, the former director of Russia’s national antidoping laboratory, whose tellall account of Russia’s governmentordered cheating had major ramifications for Russia’s athletes and the global antidoping system.
The Stepanovs and Dr. Rodchenkov have left Russia and have lived in hiding in the United States, expressing concerns about their personal safety while relying on individual donations since leaving their jobs. They have been vilified in Russia, called traitors by officials and state media.
“They took risks with not only their lives but also financially, and it became clear there was really no support for whistle-blowers,” said Bryan Fogel, a filmmaker who financed Dr Rodchenkov’s move to Los Angeles in late 2015 and produced a documentary about the Russian doping scandal. Jim Swartz, an American venture capitalist and founder of the company that produced the documentary, conceived of Fair Sport after seeing the risk D r Rodchenkov had opened himself up to in speaking out about the orders the Russian sports ministry had given him to “win at any cost.”
Though many of the principal players are from North America, former US federal prosecutor Edwin Stier said the foundation planned to establish relationships with investigators and lawyers throughout the world, hoping to be poised to protect informants of any nationality.
WADA has faced strong criticism over its treatment of the Stepanovs — who had approached the regulator with information on Russian doping as early as 2010 but ultimately turned to the news media when the regulator did not act.
