WADA holds Sport Human Intelligence Network meeting in Warsaw

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is pleased to announce that its Intelligence and Investigations Department (I&I) hosted its first in-person meeting of the Sport Human Intelligence Network (SHIN) today and yesterday in Warsaw, Poland.

The meeting, which involved 20+ representatives from the anti-doping community, was opened by WADA President Witold Bańka and focused on themes such as: confidential source recruitment and management; the global whistleblowing landscape; intelligence collection on the dark web; and more.

WADA Head of Confidential Information Unit, Damien Larin, said: “WADA was pleased to host the first in-person meeting of the Sport Human Intelligence Network in Warsaw. Collaboration is key to any doping investigation. WADA I&I is confident that, via the Sport Human Intelligence Network, it is building a community of anti-doping source handlers, which will multiply Anti-Doping Organizations’ collective intelligence gathering capabilities. Furthermore, by fostering exchanges between confidential source handlers, we believe that we will build better anti-doping casework.”

SHIN originated from discussions held during a WADA Anti-Doping I&I Network meeting in 2019; during which, WADA I&I proposed its establishment. SHIN was officially founded in 2020 and held its first of two virtual meetings shortly thereafter.

SHIN’s overarching objectives include:

• Creating a network of confidential source managers/handlers;
• Establishing bilateral relationships for purposes of intelligence sharing and joint source operations;
• Sharing best practices on confidential source handling;
• Troubleshooting common source handling challenges;
• Improving confidential source and operational security;
• Identifying opportunities for proactive and strategic intelligence collection; and
• Promoting the development of human intelligence among anti-doping stakeholders.

SHIN members must also meet specific criteria, notably:

• Demonstrating they maintain an active anti-doping intelligence gathering capability;
• Demonstrating they actively manage or engage with confidential sources; and
• Managing an active platform for the reception of confidential information from the public.

This week’s meeting was attended by representatives from the following members of SHIN:

• Anti-Doping Norway (ADNO)
• Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU)
• Finnish Center for Integrity in Sports (FINCIS)
• International Testing Agency (ITA)
• Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA)
• Japan Sports Council (JSC)
• National Anti-Doping Agency Austria (NADA Austria)
• UK Anti-Doping (UKAD)
• U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)

WADA also invited the following non-SHIN members to participate in the meeting:

• Anti-Doping Denmark (ADD)
• French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD)
• Korea Anti-Doping Agency (KADA)
• Leeds Beckett University
• Polish Anti-Doping Agency (POLADA)
• South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS)