USA Badminton in trouble for failing safe-sport policy

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has launched the decertification of USA Badminton after the national governing body failed to complete a host of measures needed to protect athletes from sex abuse.

A 2018 audit of USA Badminton showed it didn’t have proper policies in place for safe-sport training and background checks. A follow-up this year showed none of the fixes had been completed.

On Tuesday, USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland wrote a letter to Anaheim, California-based USA Badminton outlining the decertification process that she said could take “several weeks, perhaps a few months.”

Hirshland said that the uncertainty brought about by potential decertification “is better than allowing the status quo to continue. The athletes deserve better and we simply must hold organizations accountable if they can’t meet our standards.”

The USOPC moved to decertify USA Gymnastics last year, but that process was held up when USAG filed for bankruptcy.