It's NOT a Federal Entity

Once again, Congress has inserted itself into a conversation that isn't really any of its business, nor did anyone request its involvement.  But, as we've seen during this entire political season, as long as one person in Washington decides something is important, it doesn't actually matter what anyone else thinks.  Nor does it matter when the bill they pass into law is a massive overreach of Congressional authority.  Like the one they passed last week.

Crafted mainly as a response to the Larry Nasser scandal, the "Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020", which passed unanimously in the House, would give Congress additional oversight over the USOPC and national governing bodies.  It would give them the authority to remove the board of directors or even decertify the NGB's for noncompliance while also more than doubling the organization's funding for the U.S. Center for SafeSport.

While I appreciate the fact that the point of this bill is to protect athletes from abuse, I still have a number of problems with it.  The main one is that the USOPC doesn't answer to Congress!  The USOPC is the only national Olympic committee in the world that doesn't receive any federal funding.  Zero!  So why should Congress have any control over an organization that receives no federal funding?

That's not the case virtually everywhere else in the world.  Most other countries have sport ministers, government employees whose responsibilities include oversight of the NOC.  In those nations, the NOC is essentially a federal organization, so governmental oversight makes complete sense.  The USOPC, however, is a private entity.  How many other private entities does Congress have any control over?

More importantly, however, this bill puts the U.S. at risk of IOC suspension.  It's a direct violation of the IOC Charter, which allows the IOC Executive Board to take action "if the constitution, law or other regulations in force in the country concerned, or any act by any Governmental or other body, causes the activity of the NOC or the making or expression of its will to be hampered."

The IOC is very serious about this clause.  In fact, it's probably the single biggest provision in the Olympic Charter that they take most seriously.  They don't want any governmental interference in NOCs.  Period!  Kuwait had a four-year suspension because of it, causing the first-ever Kuwaiti gold medalist to win it as an "Independent Olympic Athlete" in Rio.  They suspended India for it.  They're also concerned about the situation in Italy, which is hosting the Winter Games five and a half years from now.

I'm sure the degree to which Congress knows or even cares that this is a possibility is probably pretty low.  But the USOPC sure knows, which is why they were initially opposed to the bill (the USOPC has since gotten on board and released a statement declaring its support almost immediately after it passed).  And who's going to be in charge of making sure that doesn't happen?  Not Congress!

It would obviously be a drastic step for the IOC to suspend the United States, even if it's during a non-Games period.  And, yes, it's also highly unlikely.  That would be a major embarrassment for USOPC, which will make sure it doesn't get to that point.  But that doesn't change the fact that the possibility does exist when it didn't last week.

And there's no denying that it would send a pretty strong message, too.  The IOC had no problem suspending Russia for its doping problems.  That's obviously a vastly different situation, but there were people who thought the IOC would never make such a move when such a powerful country was involved.  And if they're willing to suspend Russia, they'd probably have no issue suspending the U.S., too.  Which would, in turn, tell the other 204 NOCs that any governmental interference is an absolute no-no.

Fortunately, we'll probably never be in that situation.  A lot of the changes required in this legislation are things the USOPC and NGBs were already in the process of implementing.  The Nasser scandal exposed a number of problems that needed to be addressed.  Those problems are being fixed!  And they'd be in the process of being fixed with or without a nudge from Congress!

Some of the changes already in the works are greater transparency, more USOPC oversight of the national sports organizations, and increased funding for the SafeSport center.  It's also become easier (and safer) for athletes to report concerns, and there will be greater athlete representation on boards and national committees moving forward.  So, the provisions of the bill should really be a non-issue.

But that's not the point.  The point is that the USOPC is NOT a federal entity!  Thus, the federal government should NOT be involved in how that organization is run.  Especially when their involvement is unwanted, unnecessary, and directly puts that organization at risk of running afoul of the international organization to which it belongs (and is the most significant member).

Reform was needed.  There's no denying that.  That's the whole point of this bill.  It was designed to protect athletes from abuse and give them a safe place to play the sports they love.  Neither of which is a bad thing.  So I'm not going to fault Congress for their intentions.  Likewise, I have a hard time believing the IOC would actually suspend the USOPC because of this bill, should it become law.

So, in the end, the passage of this bill may not actually have any impact on the USOPC's standing in the Olympic movement.  But that doesn't change the fact that Congress has once again stuck its nose where it doesn't belong.  The USOPC is not a federal organization.  Thus, Congress should stay out if it.  Even though we all know they won't.