USOPC moves to decertify USA Badminton

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has moved to decertify badminton’s national governing body, citing repeated U.S. Center for Safe Sport compliance, athlete safety, financial, governance and managerial “deficiencies” since 2017, according to documents obtained by the Orange County Register.

Holly Shick, the USOPC chief ethics and compliance officer, in a letter Wednesday informed USA Badminton board chief Ken Wong, USA Badminton interim CEO John Ruger and other USA Badminton and USOPC officials that the USOPC filed a formal complaint to decertify USA Badminton.

The USOPC move follows USA Badminton’s failure to comply with a series of requirements and agreements designed to bring the NGB into compliance with U.S. Center for Safe Sport code and USOPC governance and financial guidelines.

Linda French, USA Badminton’s CEO and Wong were suspended in January by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for their roles in a case where an employee was allegedly advised not to report sexual abuse allegations against an influential figure in the sport and then was retaliated against when he did.

French was suspended for five years after what the U.S. Center for SafeSport described as a “thorough investigation” found “by a preponderance of the evidence” that she committed five violations of the SafeSport code including two counts of failing to report child abuse and/or sexual abuse as required by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, discouraging Alistair Casey, the national governing body’s SafeSport officer and chief of staff, from reporting that abuse and then firing Casey when he did, according to confidential SafeSport documents provided to the Register.

Wong received a two-year suspension for retaliating against Casey, according to confidential SafeSport documents.

French is believed to be the first national governing body CEO to be suspended by SafeSport since 2018.

“Given the extensive measures undertaken by the USOPC since 2017, and based on USAB’s inaction, the USOPC does not believe that additional assistance or guidance would resolve the outstanding issues,” Shick wrote in her letter Wednesday. “Therefore, the USOPC filed a complaint to decertify USAB earlier today.”

The USOPC will ask a hearing panel made up of a member of the USOPC board of directors, a member of the NGB council and a member of the USOPC athletes advisory council to recommend to the USOPC board of directors to decertify the NGB. USA Badminton will have the opportunity to present evidence to the panel in a formal hearing.

The USOPC, Shick wrote, first learned of USA Badminton’s “deficiencies with the U.S. Center for SafeSport (SafeSport) athlete safety requirements and other governance, financial, and managerial requirements through regular monitoring and an audit conducted in 2017.”

Subsequent audits in 2018 and 2019 revealed “a number of concerns regarding USAB’s failure to require criminal background checks and required education and training for some individuals within the USAB community, to address a lack of transparency amongst the Board and CEO, and concerns regarding USAB’s financial reporting, internal controls and grievance procedures.”

The USOPC in November 2019 filed a complaint to revoke USA Badminton’s membership in the USOPC and terminate its recognition as the NGB for Badminton and Para-Badminton which allowed the organization to select U.S. teams for major international competitions such as the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games and World Championships.

“Still, the USOPC made significant efforts to support USAB and in April 2020, the USOPC and USAB settled the 2019 complaint on the condition that USAB agreed to expeditiously address the concerns previously identified from 2017–2019, as well as additional concerns learned after the 2019 complaint was filed,” Shick said.

But, Shick wrote, “From April 2020 to the end of 2021, the USOPC tried to work with USAB to address these continuing concerns, including through providing increased financial support and other administrative resources. Unfortunately, in late 2021, the USOPC learned of new reports that USAB was again failing to meet its compliance obligations.

“To assist the USOPC in providing an outside perspective, the USOPC engaged outside counsel to investigate the concerns. As a result of the investigation, the USOPC issued a Demand Letter in late 2022 outlining issues identified through the investigation and requiring additional reforms to address them. From that point to the present day, the USOPC again took significant measures to support and assist USAB in meeting its obligations. Yet, despite repeated assurances that the organization was committed to making meaningful reforms, including changing the composition of the Board and appointing several new CEOs, and despite the USOPC’s assistance in identifying and providing financial and other resources, USAB continued to demonstrate that it cannot meet the certification requirements.”