Last month, the SafeSport Commission released a detailed 277-page report accumulating major findings and suggestions for the change related to Olympic Sports in the USA. In addition to this, the commission highlighted criticism at the SafeSport Centre, formed way back in 2017 to look over the sex abuse cases in the Olympics. 

“As we engaged in our study, it became clearer with each new piece of evidence that SafeSport has lost the trust of many athletes,” says the reports. Interestingly, this has brought the USA into the headlines across the globe. 

Proposed changes to Olympic law

As per the recent news update, the proposed rewrite of the law governing the Olympics has been made to emphasize the need for public funding to help the embattled USA’s center for SafeSports. Interestingly, this has been done to acknowledge the critical role of SafeSport in preventing and addressing the major issues related to abuse and misconduct within the Olympic sports.

Stemming on the recommendations made by the commission on the USA’s Olympics and Paralympics, there are two significant changes highlighted in the report. The proposed legislation first aims to overhaul the existing 1978 Olympic law to eliminate the “amateur” not only in the title of the law but also throughout the legislation to acknowledge the integral role of professionals in modern-day Olympics. 

In addition to this, the commission has also recommended detaching the Athletes Advisory Commission from the existing US Olympics and Paralympics Committee to mitigate the conflicts of interest. But, the major question that arises is why the rewrite of the law “Ted Stevens Olympic, Paralympic, and Grassroots Sports Act” is proposed.

 What are the reasons behind the introduction of changes?

Unlike other countries, the USA’s government does not offer funding to its Olympic teams. This has led to discussions about Safe Sports’ funding model. Arising from its annual $20 million allocated from the USOPC, the system’s reliance on “high-use contribution fee” accumulated through individual sports organizations potentially deter these from reporting it to the center.

“One of the key findings of this study has been a lack of transparency, accountability, and due process by USOPC, governing bodies, and SafeSport,…This is detrimental both to the movement and to the millions of Americans who participate in it.” Interestingly, despite all the changes, the rewritten bill will not touch upon the core of the funding philosophy, but it will be seeking funding from the government. 

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