In March 2024, a commission created by Congress issued a final report on the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic system. It concluded that the U.S. Center for SafeSport should be kept but reformed, and it made specific recommendations about funding, independence and case backlogs. Here is what the commission recommended, what Congress has considered since, and what an annual federal audit found.
What the U.S. Center for SafeSport does
The Center was established in March 2017. A 2018 federal law, the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017, gave it a role in federal law as the independent national safe sport organization. It has authority over the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and each national governing body on protecting athletes from abuse.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the Center had received more than 16,000 reports and disciplined nearly 2,000 adults through December 2022. It decides cases under a “preponderance of the evidence” standard, and a person it sanctions can seek arbitration. A 2020 law requires the USOPC to pay the Center $20 million a year.
What the commission recommended
The Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics & Paralympics was created by Congress in 2020. Its final report, titled Passing the Torch, was released March 1, 2024. Among its recommendations on SafeSport, the commission urged Congress to:
- Make the Center fully independent, funded directly by Congress rather than by the USOPC and governing bodies
- Clear the backlog of cases and remove financial incentives to close cases administratively
- End funding through fees charged to governing bodies, which the commission said can discourage reporting
- Stop closing cases only because a victim declines to take part
- Expand the Centralized Disciplinary Database and encourage information-sharing with the NCAA
- Consider regional or accreditation systems for youth and grassroots sports
The commission's work echoed concerns raised by others. The Congressional Research Service noted that the commission found issues with the Center's processes, capacity and funding, as well as confusion about the scope of its authority.
What Congress has considered
On December 6, 2024, a bipartisan group of House members introduced the Safer Sports for Athletes Act of 2024, H.R. 10326. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Its text would have, among other things:
- Raised a federal grant for abuse prevention in sports to $10 million a year
- Required the Center to finish investigations within 180 days, with extensions allowed
- Assigned case managers and offered complainants a confidential victim advocate
- Spelled out procedural protections for people accused, including written notice and a hearing on suspensions
Only the introduced version of the bill was published. Bills that do not pass before a Congress ends do not carry over, and the 118th Congress ended in January 2025. We did not find a reintroduced version in the current Congress as of this writing.
What the latest federal audit found
Federal law requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to certify each year whether the Center was independent from the USOPC. In a report released June 4, 2026, GAO certified that the Center was independent during fiscal year 2025. GAO said it did not find any violations of the law's independence requirements, such as conflicts of interest or USOPC interference in investigations.
That certification covers independence rules. It does not evaluate how quickly the Center resolves cases or how survivors experience the process.
For more on how sports organizations may share responsibility for abuse, see our page on coaching sexual abuse. Our sexual assault and abuse page covers the broader topic.
If you were abused in sport, a SafeSport case and a civil lawsuit are separate paths, and you can pursue one, both or neither. Deadlines for civil claims vary by state, and some federal claims have their own rules. A lawyer can review the specifics with you.
This article is general information about how these cases work. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney-client relationship, and no two claims are alike. If something here sounds like your situation, the useful next step is a conversation about the facts.
