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Three-time London Marathon and New York marathon winner Paula Radcliffe has told The Times that footballers should take more responsibility for 'whereabouts' regulations for which Manchester City have been charged. Clubs are required to provide accurate details of training sessions and player whereabouts so they are available for testing at all times, but City face a Football Association fine after "they failed to ensure that their 'club whereabouts' information was accurate, contrary to Regulation 14(d)." Radcliffe believes footballers "have the time and ability" to take it upon themselves and that would help raise understanding of the importance of the rule. "There are huge differences in the seriousness with which sports take 'whereabouts,'" Radcliffe said. "It would be better to fall on the individual. In terms of fairness to the players this is not the best system. 'Whereabouts' puts a little extra onus on athletes, but footballers are paid a lot of money and have the time and ability to do it. "It's a case of trusting them to take responsibility on their own shoulders. It would restore credibility within football." Explaining the difficulty of ensuring accountability, Radcliffe added: "It can be hard. When I had my kids I had to supply details of the hospital, but I had no idea when I was going to go in, and when you go into labour, updating your 'whereabouts' is not the first thing you think about." Speaking to The Guardian, Richard Ings, who chaired the Australian Anti-Doping Agency between 2006 and 2010, said team players "are treated much more leniently than professional individual sport athletes" and pointed to "gross inconsistency" as a major problem.
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