Inexplicably and unbelievably, USA Gymnastics is back in the news again. The organization that brought us the largest sexual abuse scandal in sports history announced Friday that it had hired as its interim CEO a principal from the law firm that helped the governing body cover up Larry Nassar’s assaults on numerous young gymnasts.
This is an untenable decision that must be overturned immediately. The new CEO, former Congresswoman Mary Bono, must step down, or the national governing body must remove her. There is no third option. The trust of the athletes and the nation in an organization teetering on the brink of moral collapse depends on this swift action.
Bono’s LinkedIn profile lists her as a principal at the law firm Faegre Baker Daniels from March 2013 to the present. During that time, the Indianapolis Star reported that the firm worked with USA Gymnastics officials to provide “false excuses” for Nassar’s absence from major gymnastics events in 2015 rather than disclose to parents and gymnasts that Nassar was under investigation for child sexual abuse.
It doesn’t matter if Bono knew nothing about this. It doesn't matter that she was in the firm's Washington office dealing with legislation strategies and policies. USA Gymnastics is in the midst of a crisis the likes of which we have never before seen in the history of the U.S. Olympic movement. It cannot be led, even on an interim basis, by someone with any ties to that scandal, ties Bono certainly has by being associated in any way with the law firm.
More: Simone Biles is not happy with new interim CEO of USA Gymnastics
More: USA Gymnastics names Mary Bono interim president and CEO
One would think the USA Gymnastics board of directors would have been extremely sensitive to these issues, particularly after having just gotten rid of the previous CEO, Kerry Perry, who turned out to be a public-relations nightmare.
There have to be thousands of Americans who would be qualified for this job who haven’t been associated with Faegre Baker Daniels. The USA Gymnastics board hired a search firm for the task. Didn’t it know it had to stay away from the law firm? The board also hired a crisis communications firm. It should have known too.
So what did they all do? They selected someone who worked at the darn law firm.
If this weren’t so incredibly sad for the gymnasts the governing body is supposed to serve, it would be absolutely hilarious.
There’s more. It so happens that a month ago, Bono tweeted a picture of what appears to be her criticism of Nike’s endorsement deal with Colin Kaepernick, blacking out the Nike logo on her golf shoes. The tweet, sitting there clear as day on her Twitter feed, somehow eluded the USA Gymnastics board as it did its background check of Bono.
Bono’s tweet did not elude multiple Olympic gold medalist and world champion Simone Biles, however, who took to Twitter in amazement.
“Mouth drop,” she wrote. “Don’t worry, it’s not like we needed a smarter usa gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything.”
Biles, a Nike athlete herself, was referring to the fact that USA Gymnastics remains without an apparel sponsor after several big-name companies dropped it in the fallout over the scandal in which Nassar molested hundreds of girls and young women, including Biles.
There’s also the matter of the governing body’s encouragement of athletes to continue to speak out post-Nassar, now an open question in the wake of Bono’s tweet that appeared to be critical of Kaepernick’s protests.
Bono said she “deeply” regrets the tweet, and the USA Gymnastics board said it is “disappointed” by her post, which it says it missed due to an “oversight.”
My goodness, what a mess.
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