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≡ GOVERNANCE ≡
The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee has informed USA Badminton that it will pursue a decertification action against it, as reported by the Orange County Register.
Reporter Scott Reid quoted a Wednesday (9th) letter sent to USA Badminton, which included:
“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.
“Therefore, the USOPC filed a complaint to decertify USAB earlier today.”
USA Badminton has been the subject of repeated reviews by the USOPC, and its former chief executive, Linda French, was banned for five years in January by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for discouraging a USA Badminton staff player from reporting an abuse case. That staff member was fired and made a claim against USAB for wrongful termination, which was settled in 2023.
The USOPC has filed for decertification against USA Badminton before, in 2019, over athlete safeguarding, revisions to its bylaws and governance, but the filing was retracted in 2020 under an agreement for reform. The Wednesday letter from the USOPC noted the prior observations of
“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 process, known as a “Section 8″ complaint, began with the filing of a complaint by the USOPC, to be followed by a hearing before a three-member panel, comprised of a USOPC board member, an National Governing Bodies (NGB) Council representative and an Athletes’ Advisory Council representative.
The panel will provide a report to the USOPC Board, with recommendations on what to do. The USOPC Board will decide whether to decertify USA Badminton, with the result appealable to binding arbitration, under 36 U.S.C. §220529, including a public hearing.
If USA Badminton is indeed de-certified, the USOPC would then take charge of the federation’s business and begin the process of building up or finding another organization which could be certified as the sport’s National Governing Body.
The USOPC letter, by Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer Holly Shick, pointed to continuing efforts by the USOPC to aid USA Badminton since 2017, but “USAB continued to demonstrate that it cannot meet the certification requirements.”
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