36 U.S.C. § 220523 — Authority of national governing bodies

Page 313 TITLE 36—PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES, CEREMONIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS § 220524 1998—Pub. L. 105–277, § 142(m)(1), designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and inserted heading. Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 105–277, § 142(m)(2), added par. (4) and struck out former par. (4) which read as follows: ‘‘agrees to submit, on demand by the corporation, to binding arbitration conducted in accordance with the commercial rules of the American Arbitration Associa- tion in any controversy involving— ‘‘(A) its recognition as a national governing body, as provided for in section 220529 of this title; or ‘‘(B) the opportunity of any amateur athlete, coach, trainer, manager, administrator, or official to par- ticipate in amateur athletic competition, as provided for in the corporation’s constitution and bylaws;’’. Subsec. (a)(10). Pub. L. 105–277, § 142(m)(3), added par. (10) and struck out former par. (10) which read as fol- lows: ‘‘demonstrates that— ‘‘(A) its board of directors or other governing board includes among its voting members— ‘‘(i) individuals who are actively engaged in ama- teur athletic competition in the sport for which recognition is sought; or ‘‘(ii) individuals who, within the prior 10 years, have represented the United States in international amateur athletic competition in the sport for which recognition is sought; and ‘‘(B) the individuals described in subclause (A) of this clause hold at least 20 percent of the membership and voting power on the board;’’. Subsec. (a)(14). Pub. L. 105–277, § 142(m)(4), inserted ‘‘or to participation in the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, or the Pan-American Games’’ after ‘‘amateur status’’. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105–277, § 142(m)(5), added subsec. (b). § 220523. Authority of national governing bodies (a) AUTHORITY.—For the sport that it governs, a national governing body may— (1) represent the United States in the appro- priate international sports federation; (2) establish national goals and encourage the attainment of those goals; (3) serve as the coordinating body for ama- teur athletic activity in the United States; (4) exercise jurisdiction over international amateur athletic activities and sanction inter- national amateur athletic competition held in the United States and sanction the sponsor- ship of international amateur athletic com- petition held outside the United States; (5) conduct amateur athletic competition, including national championships, and inter- national amateur athletic competition in the United States, and establish procedures for de- termining eligibility standards for participa- tion in competition, except for amateur ath- letic competition specified in section 220526 of this title; (6) recommend to the corporation individ- uals and teams to represent the United States in the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, the Pan-American Games, and the Parapan American Games; and (7) designate individuals and teams to rep- resent the United States in international ama- teur athletic competition (other than the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, the Pan-American Games, and the Parapan Amer- ican Games) and certify, in accordance with applicable international rules, the amateur eligibility of those individuals and teams. (b) REPLACEMENT OF NATIONAL GOVERNING BODY PURSUANT TO ARBITRATION.—A national governing body may not exercise any authority under subsection (a) of this section for a par- ticular sport after another amateur sports orga- nization has been declared (in accordance with binding arbitration proceedings prescribed by the organic documents of the corporation) enti- tled to replace that national governing body as the member of the corporation for that sport. (Pub. L. 105–225, Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1473; Pub. L. 105–277, div. C, title I, § 142(n), Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–608; Pub. L. 116–189, § 4(a)(9), Oct. 30, 2020, 134 Stat. 945.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 220523(a) ..... 36:393. Sept. 21, 1950, ch. 975, title II, § 203, as added Nov. 8, 1978, Pub. L. 95–606, § 2, 92 Stat. 3054. 220523(b) ..... 36:393 note. July 8, 1980, Pub. L. 96–304, title I (last sentence re- lated to limitation on ex- ercise of authority in par. under heading ‘‘Salaries and Expenses’’), 94 Stat. 898. In subsection (b), the words ‘‘national governing body’’ are omitted (the first time they appear) to elimi- nate unnecessary words. The reference to ‘‘subsection (a) of this section’’ is substituted for ‘‘section 203 of Public Law 95–606 as hereby amended’’ because of the restatement. The word ‘‘corporation’’ is substituted for ‘‘Committee’’ because of the definition of ‘‘corpora- tion’’ in section 220501 of this title. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2020—Subsec. (a)(6), (7). Pub. L. 116–189 substituted ‘‘the Pan-American Games, and the Parapan American Games’’ for ‘‘and the Pan-American Games’’. 1998—Subsec. (a)(6), (7). Pub. L. 105–277, which di- rected substitution of ‘‘Games, the Paralympic Games, and’’ for ‘‘Games and’’ in pars. (6) and (7) of this sec- tion, was executed by making the substitution in pars. (6) and (7) of subsec. (a) to reflect the probable intent of Congress. § 220524. General duties of national governing bodies (a) IN GENERAL.—For the sport that it governs, a national governing body shall— (1) develop interest and participation throughout the United States and be respon- sible to the persons and organizations it rep- resents; (2) minimize, through coordination with other organizations, conflicts in the sched- uling of all practices and competitions; (3) keep amateur athletes informed of policy matters and reasonably reflect the views of the athletes in its policy decisions; (4) disseminate and distribute to amateur athletes, coaches, trainers, managers, admin- istrators, and officials in a timely manner the applicable rules and any changes to such rules of the national governing body, the corpora- tion, the appropriate international sports fed- eration, the International Olympic Com- mittee, the International Paralympic Com- mittee, and the Pan-American Sports Organi- zation;