Amateur Athlete Safety: Certification Related to the Independence of the U.S. Center for SafeSport for Fiscal Year 2024
Fast Facts
The U.S. Center for SafeSport is responsible for protecting amateur athletes from emotional, physical, and sexual misconduct and abuse in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic communities.
Congress requires that the Center be independent from the U.S. Olympic Committee in several ways. For example, former employees of the U.S. Olympic Committee must observe a 2-year "cooling-off period" before working or volunteering at the Center. The Olympic Committee also can't interfere with or influence the Center's investigations.
For fiscal year 2024, we did not find any violations of these requirements.
Highlights
What GAO Found
The U.S. Center for SafeSport (the Center) is a nonprofit organization that plays a key role in ensuring the safety of amateur athletes. The Center has jurisdiction over the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (the Corporation) and its affiliated organizations (known as national governing bodies) with regard to safeguarding amateur athletes against abuse in sports.
The Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020 (the Act) contains several provisions related to the independence of the Center from the Corporation. Based on certification provisions in the Act and GAO's methodology, GAO certifies that the Center was independent from the Corporation during fiscal year 2024.
GAO found no evidence that a former employee or board member of the Corporation worked for the Center during its fiscal year 2024 in violation of the cooling-off period in the Act. Further, for the Center's fiscal year 2024, GAO found no evidence of a Center executive or attorney also representing the Corporation, which the Act defines as an inappropriate conflict of interest. In addition, GAO's review of the Center's investigative process found no evidence of interference or influence by the Corporation. The scope of our work did not include examining the background or suitability of Center employees.
Why GAO Did This Study
The Act includes a provision for GAO to annually "make available to the public a certification relating to the Center's independence from the Corporation," including findings on whether:
- a violation of the prohibition on employment (2-year cooling-off period) of former employees or board members of the Corporation has occurred during the year preceding the certification;
- an executive or attorney for the Center has had an inappropriate conflict of interest during that year, as defined by the Act; and
- the Corporation has interfered in, or attempted to influence the outcome of, an investigation by the Center.
GAO reviewed information provided by the Center about its employees and individuals who worked or volunteered for the Center at any point during its fiscal year 2024 (January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024). This includes reviewing conflict-of-interest verification forms that the Center requires of all such individuals. GAO cross-checked the information provided by the Center with information received from the Corporation about its employees, such as information about attorneys employed, hired, or retained. GAO reviewed the Center's written responses to questions. GAO also reviewed various documents, such as the Center's employee handbook, confidentiality policy, standard operating procedures, and the SafeSport Code, which establishes acceptable standards of conduct for all individuals who participate in U.S. Olympic and Paralympic events and training.
For more information, contact Kathryn Larin at larink@gao.gov.