USOPC Asks USA Badminton to Relinquish NGB Certification

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee has requested that USA Badminton give up its status as the national governing body for the sport in the United States.

USA Badminton announced the request in a letter to its members last week. It said in the announcement that the decision was made by the USOPC’s Compliance Review Group.

“USAB firmly believes that it has fulfilled the necessary requirements and that there may be breaches of the agreement previously entered into between USAB and the USOPC,” the letter also said. “Our Board of Directors along with Interim CEO John Ruger and staff are actively reviewing the situation and considering the appropriate course of action.”

USA Badminton had a hearing on May 22 as part of the decertification process after the USOPC initiated proceedings in October 2024.

“We want to reassure our members that USAB maintains a strong and positive working relationship with the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the International Federation for the sport, and we plan to continue that partnership. Additionally, USAB will continue to run all currently scheduled events and programs as planned,” USA Badminton said in its letter last week.

In May of 2024, an arbitrator upheld the five-year suspension of former USA Badminton CEO Linda French for interfering in the reporting of misconduct in a long-running case about a coach accused of sexually abusing a teenager nearly a decade before the episode was reported.

USA Badminton reached a $1 million settlement in 2023 with former chief of staff Alistair Casey, who contended he was fired for going against the wishes of French and other leaders by filing a complaint about the abuse allegations to the U.S. Center for SafeSport. The case in 2021 stemmed from a then-nine-year-old allegation about a coach who was accused of having sex with a teenage player.

The debate at USA Badminton was whether to report to the center or go to police. USA Badminton’s general counsel at the time was a longstanding critic of the center. Casey took the case to the center against his superiors’ wishes and later got fired “due to required cuts in USAB’s operating budget for the upcoming years,” according to an email he received informing him of his termination.