Book D – D4.1

ATHLETICS INTEGRITY UNITREPORTING, INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION RULES- NON-DOPING(Approved by Council on 14 August 2023, effective immediately)Book D – D4.1

Specific Definitions
The words and phrases used in these Rules that are defined terms (denoted by initial capitalletters) shall have the meanings specified in the Constitution and the Generally Applicable
Definitions, or (in respect of the following words and phrases) the following meanings:"Applicable Persons" means the persons defined in the Integrity Code of Conduct.
“Athletics Integrity Unit Rules” means the Athletics Integrity Unit Rules.
“Business Day” means, for the purposes of Rule 6, unless otherwise stated, a business day
in the jurisdiction where the recipient of any communication resides or is based.
“Demand” has the meaning given to it in Rule 4.5.
“Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal Website” means the website of the Disciplinary andAppeals Tribunal.
“Disciplinary Officer” means the member of Staff appointed by the Chief Executive Officer
from time to time to act as the disciplinary officer (or their equivalent) for World Athletics
including any person deputising for that individual.“Doping Violation” means a violation ofRule 3.3.3 of the Integrity Code of Conduct, including an anti-doping rule violation under the
Anti-Doping Rules.
“Former Integrity Rules” means the former versions of the Integrity Code of Conduct andany former code of ethics of World Athletics in force at the time.
“Integrity Standards” mean the standards described in Rule 3 of the Integrity Code of
Conduct.
“Integrity Unit Website” means the website of the Integrity Unit (www.athleticsintegrity.org)
which shall be separate from the World Athletics website.
“Non-Doping Violation” means a violation of the Integrity Code of Conduct (or Former
Integrity Rules) other than a Doping Violation and other than any conduct which may give rise
to a Safeguarding Concern..
“Notice of Charge” has the meaning given to it in Rule 5.1.
"Prima Facie case’’ means a case considered by the Head of the Integrity Unit to warrant
investigation.
“Provisional Suspension” means temporary suspension from participating in any
competition or activity (or such lesser restriction as may be specified in any Provisional
Suspension order).
“Publicly Disclosed” means disclosure of the decision to the public on the Disciplinary andAppeals Tribunal Website, the World Athletics website and the Integrity Unit website and suchother public notification as decided by the Integrity Unit.
“Referral” means a referral as described in Rule 7.
“Report” means a report as described in Rule 1.

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“Safeguarding Concern” means any safeguarding concern as that term is defined in the
Safeguarding Rules.
“WorldAthletics
Website”
means
thewebsiteofWorld
Athletics(https://www.worldathletics.org/ or such other website as decided by World Athletics).

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Book D – D4.1

1.

Reporting

1.1

Every Applicable Person has an obligation to report, as soon as practicable, any act,
thing or information which they become aware of, which may constitute (on its own orwith other information) a violation of the Code, including any approaches or requests
to engage in conduct that may constitute a Non-Doping Violation of the Code bylodging a report with the Integrity Unit (“Report”).

1.2

All Reports should be made or confirmed in such form as may be decided by the
Integrity Unit from time to time. Reports should be signed and dated by the person
lodging the Report and should include all available evidence.

1.3

Any Safeguarding Concern must be reported to the Head of the Integrity Unit inaccordance with the procedures set out in the Safeguarding Rules. Safeguarding
Concerns shall be dealt with in accordance with the Safeguarding Rules and not as a
Non-Doping Violation under these Athletics Integrity Unit Reporting, Investigation andProsecution Rules – Non-Doping (save as specifically set out in the Safeguarding
Rules).

2.

Prima Facie Case

2.1

The Head of the Integrity Unit shall first assess whether the Report relates to an alleged
Non-Doping Violation.

2.2

If, upon review, the Head of the Integrity Unit considers the Report to be frivolous or
malicious, they may decide to take no further action. If, upon review, the Head of theIntegrity Unit considers the Report or a particular violation to be a minor violation, they
may make a Referral pursuant to Rule 7. All Reports that are not pursued or are subject
to a Referral pursuant to Rule 7 will be reported to the Integrity Unit Board at its next
meeting. If the Head of the Integrity Unit considers it appropriate to do so, they may
ask any person filing a Report to provide further information or may make otherenquiries before a decision is taken under Rule 2.3 as to whether a Prima Facie caseis made out.

2.3

If the evidence submitted with, or subsequent to, any Report is considered by the Headof the Integrity Unit to establish a Prima Facie case of a Non-Doping Violation, theHead of the Integrity Unit will cause an investigation to be commenced, unless in theview of the Head of the Integrity Unit, in consultation with the Integrity Unit Board, there
is a good reason not to cause an investigation to be commenced either immediately orat all.

2.4

In addition to information provided in a Report, the Head of the Integrity Unit may
consider information that has come to their attention by whatever means to establish
whether there is a Prima Facie case of a Non-Doping Violation, and in suchcircumstances, they will initiate an investigation for an alleged Non-Doping Violation inaccordance with these Rules.

2.5

Grounds do not need to be given for the initiation of an investigation for an alleged
Non-Doping Violation and the decision may not be contested. The Applicable Person
will be notified of the commencement of such an investigation and of the possible NonDoping Violation(s) to which the investigation relates, and will be afforded the right tomake a written submission as part of the investigation.

2.6

The Head of the Integrity Unit may write to any Applicable Person against whom a
Prima Facie case has been found to exist, to ask whether or not they wish to admit any

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Non-Doping Violation(s) suggested by the Prima Facie case. If the Applicable Person
wishes to admit any Non-Doping Violation(s), the Head of the Integrity Unit will havethe power to direct that the matter proceed directly to a decision by the Disciplinary
and Appeals Tribunal on the consequences and sanction.
2.7

At any time, whether or not the Head of the Integrity Unit considers there is a Prima
Facie case, they may refer any information they receive from a Report or otherwise to
the appropriate criminal or other authorities or bodies, if they consider it appropriate to
do so or it is required by law.

3.

Provisional Suspension

3.1

At any time after a Prima Facie case of a Non-Doping Violation has been determinedby the Head of the Integrity Unit to exist pursuant to Rule 2 of these Rules, the Headof the Integrity Unit may make an ex parte application to the Chairperson of theDisciplinary and Appeals Tribunal to impose a Provisional Suspension on the
Applicable Person pending completion of the investigation and a decision whether the
Applicable Person has a case to answer.

3.2

Upon an application made under Rule 3.1, the Chairperson of the Disciplinary andAppeals Tribunal may impose a Provisional Suspension if they consider that the
integrity of the sport could otherwise be seriously undermined. Any Provisional
Suspension imposed under Rule 3.1 will take effect from the date specified in the
Chairperson’s decision. At the same time as such notification, a copy of the decision
to impose a Provisional Suspension on the Applicable Person shall be:
3.2.1

notified to the Integrity Unit, the Applicable Person’s Member Federation andArea Association (if applicable), unless the Chairperson of the Disciplinary
and Appeals Tribunal decides for good reason otherwise; and3.2.2

Publicly Disclosed, unless the Chairperson of the Disciplinary and Appeals
Tribunal decides for good reason otherwise.

3.3

Where a Provisional Suspension under Rule 3.1 is imposed, the Applicable Person will
have the right within 7 days of notification of the decision to make an application tocontest such Provisional Suspension in a hearing before a Panel of the Disciplinary
and Appeals Tribunal convened to hear their case. This Panel may include the
Chairperson of the Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal provided that in this situation, thePanel comprises of three (3) members.

3.4

At any hearing under Rule 3.3, the Provisional Suspension may only be lifted if the
Applicable Person establishes:

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3.4.1

that the facts do not give rise to a Prima Facie case;

3.4.2

that the charge(s) has/have no reasonable prospect of being upheld, e.g.
because of a patent flaw in the case; or

3.4.3

some other facts exist that make it clearly unfair, in all of the circumstances,to impose a Provisional Suspension prior to a full hearing on the merits ofthe charge(s). This ground is to be construed narrowly, and applied only in
exceptional circumstances (e.g. the fact that the Provisional Suspension
would prevent the person from participating in a particular event will not
qualify as exceptional circumstances for these purposes).

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Book D – D4.1

4.

Investigating Potential Violations

4.1

The Integrity Unit will have the power to conduct investigations where a Prima Facie
case of a Non-Doping Violation has been determined to exist pursuant to Rule 2 ofthese Rules.

4.2

Investigations under these Rules may be undertaken in whole or in part by Integrity
Unit Staff or persons acting under delegated authority from the Integrity Unit.

4.3

Investigations for Non-Doping Violations by or on behalf of the Integrity Unit may be
conducted in conjunction with, and/or information obtained in such investigations may
be shared with, other relevant authorities or bodies. The Integrity Unit will havediscretion, where it deems it appropriate, to stay its own investigation pending theoutcome of investigations being conducted by other relevant authorities or bodies.
However, the mere existence of another investigation does not entitle the subject of
an investigation to seek a stay of the investigation being carried out by the Integrity
Unit.

4.4

All Applicable Persons must cooperate fully with investigations conducted by the
Integrity Unit and a refusal or failure to do so without compelling justification shallconstitute a violation of Rule 4.5.1 of the Integrity Code of Conduct.

4.5

The Integrity Unit may at any stage after the Head of the Integrity Unit considers there
to be a Prima Facie case (including after the Notice of Charge) make a written demand(Demand) to an Applicable Person to provide the Integrity Unit with any information,
record, article or thing in their possession or control that the Head of the Integrity Unit
reasonably believes may evidence or lead to the discovery of evidence of a NonDoping Violation.

4.6

Without limiting the foregoing, pursuant to Rule 4.5, the Integrity Unit may require an
Applicable Person to:
4.6.1

attend before the Integrity Unit for an interview, or to answer any question,or to provide a written statement setting out their knowledge of any relevantfacts and circumstances;

4.6.2

provide (or procure to the best of their ability the provision by any third party)
for inspection, copying and/or downloading any records or files in hardcopy
or electronic format, that the Head of the Integrity Unit reasonably believes
may contain relevant information (such as itemised telephone bills, bankstatements, ledgers, notes, files, correspondence, emails, messages,
servers);

4.6.3

provide (or procure to the best of their ability the provision by any third party)
for inspection, copying and/or downloading any electronic storage device inwhich the Head of the Integrity Unit reasonably believes relevant information
may be stored (such as cloud based servers, computers, hard drives, tapes,
disks, mobile telephones, laptop computers, tablets and other mobile
storage devices);

4.6.4

provide full and unlimited access to their premises for the purpose of
securing information, records, articles or things the subject of a Demand;andAthletics Integrity Unit Reporting, Investigation and Prosecution Rules - Non-Doping Rules Approved by Council 14 August
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54.6.5provide passwords, login credentials and other identifying information
required to access electronically stored records that are the subject of a
Demand.

4.7

Subject to Rule 4.8, an Applicable Person must comply with a Demand in suchreasonable period of time as determined by the Integrity Unit and set out in the
Demand. Each Applicable Person waives and forfeits any rights, defences and privileges
provided by any law in any jurisdiction to withhold any information, record, article or thing
requested in a Demand.

4.8

Where a Demand relates to any information, record, article or thing that the Head of
the Integrity Unit reasonably believes is capable of being damaged, altered, destroyedor hidden (any electronic storage device, or electronically stored information shall bedeemed to meet this criterion), then for the purposes of evidence preservation, theIntegrity Unit may require an Applicable Person to comply immediately with the
Demand. In such a case:
4.8.1

the Applicable Person must immediately comply with the Demand andpermit the Integrity Unit to take immediate possession of, copy and/or
download the information, record, article or thing. However, the Integrity Unit
may take no steps to inspect or use the same other than as provided in Rule4.8.4 below;

4.8.2

a refusal or failure by an Applicable Person to comply immediately with the
Demand shall constitute an independent violation of Rule 4.5.1 of theIntegrity Code of Conduct and any attempted or actual damage, alteration,
destruction or hiding of such information, record, article or thing upon receipt
of or after the Demand shall constitute an independent violation of Rule 4.5.2of the Integrity Code of Conduct;

4.8.3

the Applicable Person has 7 days from receipt of the Demand to file an
objection to the Demand by requesting a review by the Chairperson of theDisciplinary and Appeals Tribunal or their delegate in accordance with Rule4.9; and

4.8.4

if the Applicable Person does not file an objection within 7 days of receipt of
the Demand (or files an objection and the Chairperson of the Disciplinary
and Appeals Tribunal or their delegate subsequently finds there is areasonable belief basis to the Demand), or notifies the Integrity Unit that they
do not object to the Demand, the Integrity Unit may forthwith inspect the
information, record, article or thing and otherwise make use of it inaccordance with these Rules.

4.9

An Applicable Person may object to a Demand made under Rule 4.5 by filing anapplication with the Chairperson of the Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal within 7 daysof receipt of the Demand specifying the grounds for such objection. Where such an
application is made, subject always to Rule 4.8, the time for complying with a Demand
shall be stayed pending the outcome of the objection.

4.10

The Chairperson of the Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal or their delegate (who shallin all cases either be the deputy chairperson or another member of the Disciplinary
and Appeals Tribunal) shall consider the objection to the Demand with as much
expediency as the justice of the matter permits and, unless exceptional circumstances
apply, such review shall be conducted by way of written evidence and submissions
only. In considering the Demand, the Chairperson of the Disciplinary and Appeals

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Book D – D4.1

Tribunal shall have the discretion but not the obligation to invite submissions from theIntegrity Unit and the Applicable Person, as they see fit.
4.11

Where the Chairperson of the Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal or their delegate
determines that there is no reasonable belief basis to the Demand, then the Integrity
Unit shall not pursue the Demand with the Applicable Person and the information,
record, article or thing and any copy or download of the same shall either be
immediately returned to the Applicable Person or destroyed, as the case requires.

4.12

Where the Chairperson of the Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal or their delegate
determines that there is a reasonable belief basis to the Demand, then if the Applicable
Person fails to produce the information, record, article or thing and any copy or
download of the same, then it shall constitute an independent violation of Rule 4.5.1 ofthe Integrity Code of Conduct.

4.13

The ruling of the Chairperson of the Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal or their delegate
as to whether there is a reasonable belief basis to a Demand shall not be subject toappeal.

4.14

If a Demand is set aside, it shall not preclude the Integrity Unit from making any other
Demand in relation to the same or another investigation.

4.15

Any information, record, article or thing provided to the Integrity Unit under this Rule
will be kept confidential except when it becomes necessary to disclose suchinformation, record, article or thing to further the investigation of and/or to bring or as
part of proceedings relating to a Non-Doping Violation, or when such information,
record, article or thing is reported to administrative, professional or judicial authorities
pursuant to an investigation or prosecution of non-sporting laws or regulations, or isotherwise required by law.

4.16

If an Applicable Person obstructs or delays an investigation (e.g. by providing false,
misleading or incomplete information or documentation and/or by tampering or
destroying any documentation or other information that may be relevant to theinvestigation), this may itself constitute an independent violation of Rule 4.5.2 of theIntegrity Code of Conduct.

4.17

The Integrity Unit may at any time require a Member Federation or Area Association:

4.18

4.17.1to assist in an investigation into a potential Non-Doping Violation by one ormore persons under its jurisdiction (where appropriate, acting in conjunction
with any other relevant national authority or body); and4.17.2to provide a written report on such assistance within a reasonable time
period as stipulated by the Integrity Unit.

If a Member Federation or Area Association refuses or fails to comply with Rule 4.17
without compelling justification or obstructs or delays an investigation (e.g. by providing
false, misleading or incomplete information or documentation and/or by tampering or
destroying any documentation or other information that may be relevant to theinvestigation), it shall constitute a serious breach of the Rules which shall be reported
to Council or Congress and for which Council or Congress may exercise theirrespective suspensive and other powers to sanction against the Member Federation
or Area Association in accordance with Parts II and III of the Constitution.

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4.19

Where during the course of, or pursuant to, any investigation the Integrity Unit identifies
any additional Applicable Persons against whom it considers there exists a Prima
Facie case of a Non-Doping Violation, the investigation may be expanded to deal with
their involvement in the events in question.

4.20

In each case following completion of the investigation, subject to the prior approval of
the Integrity Unit Board, the Head of the Integrity Unit shall decide whether there is acase to answer for the commission of a Non-Doping Violation and, if so, whether the
Athlete or other Person should be Provisionally Suspended, or should continue to be
Provisionally Suspended, pending resolution of the case.

4.21

Where the decision is that an Applicable Person has a case to answer for commissionof a violation of the Integrity Code of Conduct, the Head of the Integrity Unit will senda Notice of Charge in accordance with Rule 5.

4.22

Where the decision is that there is no case to answer, the matter shall not proceedfurther and any Provisional Suspension previously imposed shall be lifted.

5.

Notice of Charge

5.1

When the Head of the Integrity Unit decides pursuant to Rule 4 that there is a case toanswer, the Head of the Integrity Unit will send a written notice (“Notice of Charge”)
to the Applicable Person subject to the charge with a copy to their Member Federation
and Area Association (if applicable).

5.2

The Notice of Charge shall set out:

5.3

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5.2.1

the Non-Doping Violation(s) alleged to have been committed (including thespecific Rule(s) alleged to have been infringed), a summary of the facts uponwhich such allegations are based, and any other relevant information;

5.2.2

a summary of the potential consequences and sanctions if it is determinedthat the alleged Non-Doping Violation(s) have been committed; and

5.2.3

the Applicable Person’s entitlement to respond to the Notice of Charge inaccordance with Rule 5.3.

The Applicable Person may respond to the Notice of Charge in one of the following
ways:
5.3.1

admit the Non-Doping Violation(s) charged and accept all or any of thepotential consequences and sanctions specified in the Notice of Charge;

5.3.2

admit the Non-Doping violation(s) charged, but dispute and/or seek tomitigate all or any of the potential consequences and sanctions specified in
the Notice of Charge and have the Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal
determine the consequences and sanctions at a hearing conducted inaccordance with Rule 5.6; or

5.3.3

deny the Non-Doping Violation(s) charged, and have the Disciplinary andAppeals Tribunal determine the charge and (if the charge is upheld) any
consequences and sanctions, at a hearing conducted in accordance with
Rule 5.6.

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5.4

If the Applicable Person wishes to exercise their right to a hearing before theDisciplinary and Appeals Tribunal, they must submit a written request for such ahearing so that it is received by the Integrity Unit as soon as possible, and in any event
within ten (10) days of their receipt of the Notice of Charge or such other deadline
specified in the Notice of Charge. The request must also state how the Applicable
Person responds to the charge and must explain (in summary form) the basis for such
response. A copy of the written request for a hearing shall be sent to the Chairpersonof Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal together with a copy of the Notice of Charge.

5.5

In the event the Applicable Person does not respond to the Notice of Charge in themanner set out in Rule 5.3 by the specified deadline, the Applicable Person will bedeemed to have admitted the violation(s) charged, and the consequences andsanctions specified in the Notice of Charge will apply, provided that the Notice ofCharge has been given to the Applicable Person in accordance with Rule 6.

5.6

On receipt of a written request for a hearing from an Applicable Person and thecorresponding Notice of Charge, the Chairperson of the Disciplinary and Appeals
Tribunal (or by agreement with them, the vice chairperson) will appoint a panel of theDisciplinary and Appeals Tribunal to hear and decide the matter as set out in the
Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal Rules.

5.7

In the Notice of Charge, or at any other time prior to the determination of the charge
by the Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal, the Integrity Unit may invite the Applicable
Person to admit the Non-Doping Violation(s) charged.

5.8

In the event that the Integrity Unit withdraws the Notice of Charge, or the Applicable
Person admits the Non-Doping Violation(s) charged and accepts the consequences
and sanctions specified (or is deemed to have done so in accordance with Rule 5.5),
a hearing before the Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal will not be required. If thisoccurs, the Integrity Unit:
5.8.1

will promptly issue a decision confirming (as applicable) its withdrawal of the
Notice of Charge or the admission of the Non-Doping Violation(s) and theimposition of the specified consequences and sanctions;

5.8.2

will Publicly Disclose any decision confirming the admission of the NonDoping Violation(s) and the imposition of the specified consequences andsanctions in accordance with the Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal Rules(but shall not disclose a decision to withdraw a Notice of Charge); and5.8.3

will send a copy of the decision to the Applicable Person subject to thecharge, and for any decision confirming the admission of the Non-Doping
Violation(s) and the imposition of the specified consequences and sanctions,send a copy of that decision to their relevant Member Federation, and Area
Association (if applicable).

6.

Notice6.1

Any notice or other communication required to be given by the Integrity Unit or theDisciplinary and Appeals Tribunal pursuant to these Rules must be given in writing andmust be sent by registered post or transmitted by email. If sent by registered post, thenotice or other communication will be deemed to have been given on the Business
Day following the day it is sent. If transmitted by email before 5pm (Monaco time) on
a Business Day, the notice or other communication will be deemed to have been givenon that day. If transmitted by email on a non-Business Day, or at or after 5pm (Monaco

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9time) on a Business Day, the notice or other communication will be deemed to havebeen given on the next Business Day.
6.2

A party's last-known residence, place of business or email will be a valid address forthe purpose of any notice or other communication, unless notification of a change tosuch address has been communicated to the Integrity Unit or the Disciplinary andAppeals Tribunal (as applicable). Notice to a person who is a member of or affiliatedto a Member Federation may be accomplished by delivery of the notice to the Member
Federation.

6.3

Any period of time specified in these Rules will begin to run on the day following the
day when a notice or other communication is given. Non-Business Days occurring
during the period are included in calculating the running of that period, save that if theperiod, so calculated, ends on a Non-Business Day, then it will be deemed to end on
the next Business Day.

6.4

The Head of the Integrity Unit or the Chairperson of the Disciplinary and Appeals
Tribunal, as appropriate, may for good reason extend any period of time specified inthese Rules, if necessary with retrospective effect.

7.

Alternative procedure for minor violations

7.1

Notwithstanding any other provision of these Rules, where the Head of the Integrity
Unit considers an alleged violation of the Integrity Code (other than a Doping Violation
or a Safeguarding Concern) to be a minor violation, rather than follow the procedures
set out above the Head of the Integrity Unit may refer the matter to the Disciplinary
Officer to be dealt with in accordance with the Disputes and Disciplinary Proceedings
Rules (a Referral).

7.2

The Referral will set out:
7.2.1

the name of the Applicable Person who is the subject of the Referral (theRespondent);

7.2.2

a brief statement of the details of the alleged violation;

7.2.3

the specific provisions of the Integrity Code alleged to have been violated;
and

7.2.4

details of any relevant evidence, including copies of any relevant documents.

7.3

If upon investigation the Disciplinary Officer identifies facts or matters that suggest the
sanctions set out in the Disputes and Disciplinary Rules may not be adequate, given
the conduct of the Applicable Person, they shall raise this with the Head of the Integrity
Unit, who will then decide whether to maintain the Referral or else withdraw theReferral and pursue the matter in accordance with the ordinary procedures set out
above. Alternatively the Head of the Integrity Unit may withdraw the Referral of theirown accord at any time and pursue the matter in accordance with the procedures set
out above.

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