Report: USA Gymnastics Board Given Six Days to Resign by USOC or Be Decertified
On Thursday, the United States Olympic Committee gave the USA Gymnastics board six days to resign or the federation will be decertified in the aftermath of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal, reported USA Today.
USA Gymnastics' status as the sports governing body will be gone unless it meets six conditions that were reportedly outlined by USOC CEO Scott Blackmun in an email sent Thursday. The group has until next Wednesday to meet the conditions.
Nassar, the former Team USA gymnastics doctor, was sentenced Wednesday to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing more than 150 women and girls, including Olympic medalists McKaylaMaroney, AlyRaisman, Jamie Dantzscher, Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles, under the guise of providing medical treatment. Nassar was also a team doctor for Michigan State University.
He was already sentenced to 60 years for possession of child pornography.
Judge Rosemarie Aquilina gained attention for allowing victims to speak to Nassar face to face if they wanted to during the seven-day hearing. Over 150 women read and shared victim impact statements, with many criticizing the USOC and USA Gymnastics.
The USOC sent a letter to the athletes shortly after the completion of Nassar's sentencing hearing that calls for a full overhaul of USA Gymnastics leadership. Three members of the USAG's 21-member board of directors have already resigned, but the letter says what's in need is nothing short of a "full turnover of leadership from the past."
Steve Penny, who led the organization from 2005 until March, was forced out after the Nassar ordeal went public and has been replaced by Kerry Perry. Perry announced last week that USA Gymnastics would no longer hold national team training at Karolyi Ranch in Texas, a site where so many were abused by Nassar.
But Blackmun's email addressed more changes, according to USA Today: An interim board must be in place by Feb. 28 and must be replaced within 12 months. No one, except the five athlete representatives, are eligible to be an interim member.
The organization must also cooperate with an independent investigation and discuss its progress implementing recommendations and report back to the USOC. USAG staff and board members must complete SafeSport training and ethics training.
Full text of the original USOC letter sent Wednesday can be read here.
