You can whistle for it

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, whistle-blowing occurs: "when an employee or worker provides certain types of information, usually to the employer or a regulator, which has come to their attention through work. Whistle-blowing occurs when a worker raises a concern about danger or illegality that affects others, for example members of the public." Notwithstanding criticisms of Wikipedia, the entry for whistle-blowing on the site reads: "A whistle-blower is a person who publicly alleges concealed misconduct on the part of an organization or body of people, usually from within that same organization. This misconduct may be classified in many ways; for example, a violation of a law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest, such as fraud, health/safety violations, and corruption. Whistle-blowers may make their allegations internally (for example, to other people within the accused organization) or externally (to law enforcement agencies, to the media or to groups concerned with the issues). Whistle-blowers frequently face reprisal - sometimes at the hands of the organization or group which they have accused, sometimes from related organizations, and sometimes under law."

Interesting stuff indeed, especially if one considers some recent controversies in sport, most notably what is happening in the increasingly fractious stand-off between the Benetton F1 team and Nelson Piquet Junior. Having seemingly 'blown the whistle' on the team, Piquet now potentially faces court action as the team have responded by reporting Piquet's activities (which could be deemed to be criminal under French law) to the authorities. How do the above definitions apply to Renault/Piquet? Do they help us understand the problems in a more insightful way? Is the Renault/Piquet stand-off a classic example of whistle-blowing, or simply sour grapes on the part of a dismissed former employee? If the former, how should sport, F1 and Benetton respond? Is sport singularly failing in the way it addresses the issue or is whistle-blowing effectively dealt with and appropriate handled? If the latter, what action could/should Benetton take? Is the law the only way, or are there stronger managerial and/or policy measures that can be employed?

Overall, is there a need for sport to take the whole issue of whistle-blowing much more seriously? If so, how, especially given the strong sense of secrecy that prevails in some quarters of sport, especially in the dressing rooms of team sports?