Abstract: The whereabouts rule is in conflict with the right to privacy, the right to personal information and the right to rest in European law. Conventionally, sports organizations avoid legal examination of whereabouts rule by claiming that they are non-governmental organizations, they are in contractual relationships with athletes or the sports games are amateur. However, this practice has legal risks. In order to resolve the conflict, WADC stresses the proportional principle and limits the scope of applying whereabouts rule, making the rule legitimatized in terms of legal norms.Therefore, the adoption of whereabouts rule violates the proportional principle and athletes can resort to the judicial assistance.However, athletes need to prove to the court the following three points: the legitimacy of whereabouts rule is based on the proportional principle, damages have occurred, and the adoption of whereabouts rule is against the legal principle of universality, such as principle of responsibility.

Key words: whereabouts rule, athletes, proportionalprinciple, privacy, dataprotection, principle of sports exception doping control