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Latest USOC reform group shows promise by avoiding usual suspects

December 11, 2009 |  6:51 am

It would be polite to say I was skeptical when the U.S. Olympic Committee announced Nov. 12 that it had appointed an independent advisory committee chaired by former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to make another potentially costly assessment of the USOC's governance structure and operations.



"I couldn't tell you who the usual suspects are," Tagliabue said in a phone conversation Thursday. "I was trying to come up with people who were a good mix of experience: sports, not-for-profit, business, a few younger people, all of whom understand sports, the 21st century and the United States and international marketplace."

There already have been six assessments of how the USOC runs itself since 1988 -- one, by high-end consultants McKinsey & Co., cost $600,000. The sisyphean sum of them was wasted time, money and effort. The revolving door in USOC leadership continued, with several major changes in the last year, and the organization became more and more of a laughingstock whose actions amused, bemused and irritated the rest of the global Olympic community, all reflected in Chicago's first-round ouster from the 2016 host city voting.

Only the most recent governance review, done by internal and independent groups compelled by congressional hearings when USOC dysfunction hit a new low in 2003, had a significant effect.  It cut the size of the USOC board from 125 voting members to nine.


While Ueberroth was replaced by Larry Probst 14 months ago, the seeds of discontent and distrust between the board and its constituencies -- mainly the national federations (NGBs) that govern individual sports -- had bloomed into a kudzu of suspicion that entangled everything.  Thus: the NGB leaders' demand after Chicago's Oct. 2 rout that both Probst and interim CEO Stephanie Streeter step down immediately.




"I thought Larry ran a great company," Tagliabue said. "He was open, transparent, no gamesmanship."


The committee includes enough people with Olympic movement experience (including USA Triathlon chief executive Skip Gilbert, Probst's most vocal and harshest critic; Paralympians, Olympians; and businessmen with sports backgrounds, like Washington Wizards and Mystics owner Raul Fernandez) to satisfy those dissatisfied about the lack of such people on the USOC board.


"In the NFL, we had a 32-member board, and that was workable," he said.


"A larger bunch can be handled," he said. "My hunch is this board should be expanded to be made more representative and get additional skill sets on it."


"Everything starts with those two 2003 reports," he said. "What I have been hearing from most people involved pre-2003 and post-2003 is a lot of what was recommended and adopted hit the mark, but obviously there are quite a few pieces missing or we wouldn't be where we are.

"There has been so much negativity and criticism after the decision on Chicago and along the way.  But I am surprised as I talk to people, once they get beyond venting, they really say, 'We don't have to go back to Square One here.' "

Tagliabue boils the governance issues down to three questions:

  • Where did the 2003 reforms hit the mark?
  • Where did they miss the mark in terms of structure?


"The USOC is a part of a complex network of organizations," he said. "A lot of people felt there was not a lot of clarity in terms of what people in the network really expect the USOC to do.

"They build training facilities for some sports, not others.  If they [the USOC] build a training center, does that mean they are responsible for producing great athletes or is the NGB responsible?  The feeling I was getting is one of 'We don't know where our role ends and theirs begins.'

"And you've got 40 different models [for the NGBs' role].  So I felt there was a question we needed to address about the operating model of this network:  who is responsible for what, who funds what, how do you raise the funding, how do you decide how it goes out to the federations?




-- Philip Hersh

Photo: Paul Tagliabue.  Credit: Chuck Burton / Associated Press