HIt was a fiery letter signed by members of the women's and men's national teams and young US soccer talent that tried to rouse congressional politicians in Washington last summer. The purpose of their complaint? Representatives are dealing with a problem for which they clearly claimed responsibility with a new law in 2017.
Because of abuse scandals, including in gymnastics, they have drawn up a list of measures to protect victims from sexual assault and decided on the legal legitimacy of a private institution. It is intended to be a tool in the fight against cover-ups and pettiness, and is funded primarily with Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) funds. It is equipped with a list of penalties, up to a professional ban.
8,000 athletes register every year
The latest figures show just how urgent the action is. About 8,000 athletes now file abuse allegations each year with the Denver-based U.S. Center for Safe Sport. The organization employs one hundred people with a budget of $21 million (about 19.3 million euros).
However, from what footballers discovered in 2022 as part of research by independent expert, former US Attorney General Sally Yates, it does not appear as if “SafeSport” does what the name promises. Based on conversations with 200 affected people, their report on psychological and sexual abuse suffered by coaches in the NWSL Women's Professional League revealed not only individual examples of attacks, but also everyday mechanisms for covering up and downplaying attacks.
Yates said in a television interview at the time: “There were people, especially club owners, who accused the players of dishonest motives,” and he explicitly warned officials against “Save Sport.” His investigations continued and led to unsatisfactory results. One case in particular stood out. Rory Dames, the former coach of the NWSL team Chicago Red Stars, whose conduct takes up nearly a quarter of the space in Yates' 172-page report, had his license reinstated from Denver before the investigation was completed. By the way, they still aren't – two years later.
The facility's annual report from 2022 reveals more trends. Clear violations? This was only formally identified in 13 percent of reported allegations. 37% ended up with a huge mountain of files called “administrative closures.” Although these procedures are still ongoing from a purely formal legal perspective, they are no longer being actively addressed. No wonder Yates warned football officials that they themselves should “take safety measures where necessary to protect players”.
At the beginning of February, two senators in Washington expressed “concern that the US Center for Safe Sport is not doing the work Congress intended it to do.” They sent a circular to more than 50 sports federations to ask how things were going. As shown in the past, politicians are not afraid to schedule public hearings if necessary, which exposes weaknesses in the system and increases pressure.
The facility “failed in its current form”
SafeSport managing director Joris Colón tried to mitigate criticism from footballers last year: “There is no way to satisfy all parties with an answer and solution, but the center is committed to continuous improvement.”
There are clear accusations, as football campaigners wrote last year: “We saw how our colleagues had the strength and courage to tell their story, and how investigators subsequently closed their case without any binding findings. Even more worrying is that perpetrators could return to their sport.
And what's at least as serious: a web bug caused by Congress. “SafeSport” has sole sporting legal authority in cases of abuse. Therefore, the footballers are convinced that although the institution was “created with noble and important intentions”, it “has failed in its current form” and has not achieved what it was supposed to achieve. The other associations' answers to the two senators' questions are still pending.
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