SafeSport: An Olympic-Sized Scam?

The United States Center for SafeSport was founded in 2017 to protect amateur athletes from abuse. SafeSport arose in response to the widely publicized crimes of Larry Nassar in U.S. Olympic gymnastics. 

Since then, SafeSport has been largely a disappointment. The rising number of lawsuits against SafeSport alone is cause for concern. 

Since 2017, the number of abuse cases reported to SafeSport increased by 2,500%. Their 2023 annual report claims that this reflects increased trust in SafeSport. (Evidence to support this claim remains unseen.) 

In 2023, SafeSport CEO Ju’Rise ColÓn was paid $85,000 in “Bonus & incentive compensation.” That is in addition to her $273,369 base salary. 

In the same year, SafeSport paid only $59,577 for “Professional education” of its staff. But in 2022 and 2023, the center earned $1,341,971 and $1,146,844 (respectively) on the trainings that it requires of coaches and athletes. 

It is possible that increasing numbers of SafeSport reports indicate increasing trust in the organization. But it is also possible that these increasing numbers are the result of financial mismanagement and (consequently) widespread organizational failure. 

In this article, we will take a look at SafeSport’s questionable financial practices. Keep reading to learn about how this organization is funded, how funds are allocated, and more. 

SafeSport Lawsuits 

In 2023, the Women’s World Cup Team issued an open letter to SafeSport. They noted that “SafeSport is failing in what it was meant to achieve.” 

One of the main issues this letter highlighted was that of SafeSport’s administrative closure rate. Out of 12,751 cases reported to the center, 4,800 reports were “administratively closed,” in many cases without explanation. 

In March of 2024, Ted Cruz testified that “the Center has administratively closed roughly four out of every five sexual misconduct cases where it found jurisdiction.” 

Despite growing concerns over the Center’s efficacy, SafeSport reported a $3.2 million budget surplus in 2023. 

This is on top of SafeSport’s annual USOPC funding of $20 million and its $2.4 million Keep Young Athletes Safe grant. 

If SafeSport had a surplus of over $3 million last year, then why did it close 4 out of 5 cases? To explore this further, let’s take a look at SafeSport financial statements from 2023. 

SafeSport Financial Statements 

SafeSport is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization. This means that SafeSport is legally required to publicize its financial statements. 

Over the past 2 years, SafeSport made almost $3 million off of “fee-for-service” trainings. Athletic groups that belong to SafeSport must complete (and pay for) required online trainings to remain eligible in their sport.  

In 2023, SafeSport spent $390,360 on “Travel.” In the same year, it spent only $59,577 on “Professional education” for staff members. This is almost $36,000 less than what SafeSport spent on its CEO’s bonus in the same year. 

In 2023, SafeSport also spent $276,355 on “Office Supplies and Other.” And it spent nearly $2 million in “Legal fees,” undoubtedly on account of its many lawsuits. 

SafeSport Financial Record Discrepancies 

In February of 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) conducted an audit of grants awarded to SafeSport.

In this audit, the DOJ found numerous “concerns related to the SafeSport’s budget management, drawdown, and Federal Financial Report (FFR) procedures.” They also identified $77,500 of uncategorized grant funding in 2018 alone. 

The DOJ found that SafeSport grant drawdowns exceeded their expenditures in a number of instances. This means that SafeSport was reporting how much money they were taking out of grant funds, but they were not necessarily recording how these funds were spent. 

Out of the FFRs that SafeSport submitted between 2018 and 2022, only one of these reports “matched the accounting records.” 

In its report, the DOJ required SafeSport to correct the financial record discrepancies that were identified. 

Keeping Athletes Safe? 

SafeSport receives tens of millions of dollars each year to protect amateur athletes, many of whom are children. But is SafeSport actually using these funds to promote athlete safety? 

As a case study, let’s take a look at a 2017 audit that SafeSport conducted on USA Roller Sports (more popularly known as USARS). 

In this report, SafeSport found that USARS did not properly conduct criminal background checks on individuals involved in USA Roller Sports. They noted that: 

     …athletes may have contact with individuals who are unaware of SafeSport misconduct and the potential impact to athletes’ well-being and/or have contact with individuals who have a criminal history, which could put athletes at SafeSport-related misconduct risk. 

As part of this audit, SafeSport required USARS to “consistently track and verify criminal background checks and education and training requirements are met for all required individuals.” 

However, there is no evidence to suggest that USARS has complied with this requirement. Since 2018, SafeSport has not conducted any checks (as far as I am aware) to verify whether USARS is appropriately conducting criminal background checks. 

USARS oversees roller derby, inline speed skating, artistic roller skating, inline hockey, and more. Most of the participants in these roller sports are children. 

USARS’ failure to conduct appropriate criminal background checks has put children in danger for at least 7 years now. And there is no evidence to suggest that SafeSport has taken action to address this. 

Instead, SafeSport continues to earn millions of dollars off of athletes that it promises to protect. Not only has SafeSport failed to comply with financial reporting guidelines, but it has also failed to keep children safe. 

Moving Towards a More Accountable Future 

SafeSport was founded under the guise of keeping vulnerable athletes safe. Today, this organization dismisses 4 out of 5 reports through “administrative closures.” 

Furthermore, SafeSport has repeatedly failed to stand up to financial scrutiny. The Department of Justice itself has identified inadequacies in the Center’s financial reporting practices. 

Most egregiously, early SafeSport audits pointed out systemic issues that put athletes in danger. SafeSport has failed to address these issues and kept athletes, coaches, and families in the dark about potential safety concerns. 

In order to accomplish its stated mission of protecting athletes, SafeSport must take immediate action towards institutional reform. Enhancing financial transparency and following up on serious policy violations would be (part of) a great start.