Safe Sport
SDRCC Rules That Maltreatment and Abuse Warrant Lifetime Ban On Working With Athletes
Date: September 12, 2024
Addressing complaints of the maltreatment and abuse of athletes continues to be a developing and hot-button issue in Canadian law. The Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) recently released its June 27, 2024 decision in Elvira Saadi v Gymnastics Canada (GymCan), which upheld the original decision of a disciplinary panel of Gymnastics Canada (GymCan) to place a lifetime ban on a coach from working directly with athletes as a result of findings of maltreatment and abuse. The SDRCC determined that the sanction was “reasonable” considering the nature of the violations, severity of abuse, impact on athlete safety, and the need to maintain the integrity of the sport.
Facts
Ms. Saadi is a former gymnastics coach. GymCan is the national governing body for gymnastics in Canada. There were five complainants who made complaints relating to Ms. Saadi, all of whom alleged Ms. Saadi engaged in the maltreatment and abuse of athletes during her tenure as a coach including physical abuse, emotional and psychological abuse, and neglect.
On receipt of the complaints, GymCan initiated an investigation pursuant to its internal policyand procedures and suspended Ms. Saadi pending its outcome. The external investigator concluded that, over a 13-year period, Ms. Saadi engaged in various forms of athlete mistreatment which violated multiple GymCan policies. Her misconduct included:
- psychological and physical abuse
- body-shaming
- name-calling
- criticizing athletes
- yelling and screaming at athletes
- creating a toxic environment
- exercising an excessive amount of control over athletes
- restricting food and water intake
- engaging in aggressive physical contact
- dispensing non-prescribed and/or unapproved pills/supplements
- forcing athletes to train and complete while injured or too exhausted to do so safely
- rejecting medical opinions and recommendations of professionals when those conflicted with her own personal views
GymCan convened a Discipline Committee (Panel) to consider the appropriate penalty for Ms. Saadi’s misconduct. In reaching its decision, the Panel considered:
- the nature of Ms. Saadi’s violations of GymCan policies, and the detrimental impact it had on the physical and mental health of the complainants
- the sanctioning principles defined in GymCan’s internal policyand proceduresand the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS)
- the Panel’s primary function to protect the public, gymnasts and other participants in the sport, as well as to maintain a high level of professional standards
- Ms. Saadi’s conduct, her experience in a position of authority and her lack of insight regarding the seriousness of her wrongdoing
- the nature and duration of abuse on multiple minor athletes
Ultimately, the Panel imposed a 10-year membership suspension on Ms. Saadi from GymCan and any provincial governing body. This suspension prohibited Ms. Saadi from coaching, judging, officiating, developing content or participating in GymCan’s committees or boards.
Upon completion of suspension, Ms. Saadi would be permitted to return to training only coaches and could have no direct contact or engagement with athletes in any manner. She was prohibited from engaging in any other GymCan-related activity for life, which included coaching, judging, officiating, developing content or participating in GymCan’s committees or Boards. In this respect, while there was not a lifetime ban on Ms. Saadi engaging in any GymCan activity (as she could continue to train coaches), she was permanently banned from any direct or indirect involvement with athletes.
The Panel also imposed additional conditions on Ms. Saadi’s reinstatement following her suspension, which included participating in education and training to the satisfaction of an independent panel.
The Appeal
Ms. Saadi appealed the Panel’s decision to the SDRCC. She argued that the sanction imposed was not within a reasonable range of penalties based on the findings of fact in the investigation report. She asserted that the Panel, in essence, imposed a lifetime ban on her involvement with GymCan, as she would be almost 80 years old at the end of her 10-year suspension period, and that this was “grossly unreasonable and indefensible.”
The arbitrator determined that while the sanction imposed was more severe than in comparable cases, it could not be considered unreasonable or manifestly wrong. The arbitrator concluded that the Panel considered all the relevant factors in making their decision, including the nature of the violations, the severity of abuse, the impact on athlete safety and the need to maintain the integrity of the sport.
Accordingly, the arbitrator dismissed Ms. Saadi’s appeal.
Key Takeaways
This decision reinforces the importance of maintaining a safe and respectful environment in sports and sets a precedent that non-sexual abuse misconduct within sport organizations can attract a high level of discipline.
In addition, this decision demonstrates the importance of developing clear and comprehensive safe sport and investigation policies to effectively address maltreatment and abuse. When sport organizations have safe sport and investigation policies in place, they can be essential to successfully upholding discipline, should a sport organization find themselves involved in litigation.
For organizations looking for assistance with UCCMS alignment, policy drafting, or regarding any questions, please contact Brittany Bates at 416.864.7508, Frank Cesario at 416.864.7355 or Kayley C. Leon at 416.864.7028.
The authors thank Nabila Farid, a 2024 summer student and incoming articling student, for her assistance with this article.
The article in this client update provides general information and should not be relied on as legal advice or opinion. This publication is copyrighted by Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP and may not be photocopied or reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the express permission of Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP. ©
