The U.S. Equestrian Federation and the U.S. Center for SafeSport have updated the SafeSport Suspensions List as of May 25.
Two new names have been added to the list, and both are interim suspensions, typically given while the U.S. Center For SafeSport investigates allegations.
- Rob Bielefeld, Wellington, Florida, allegations of misconduct, sanctioned 5/25/18
- John Manning, Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, allegations of misconduct, sanctioned 5/25/18
USEF General Counsel Sonja Keating confirmed that Bielefeld was judging at the Devon Horse Show (Pennsylvania) when the U.S. Center For Safe Sport made its ruling late on the day on Friday May 25, and he was allowed to judge the following day. While he was scheduled to judge at Devon this upcoming weekend, the show has replaced him.
The Center, originally created by the U.S. Olympic Committee but now run as an independent agency, protects athletes from six kinds of misconduct defined in the SafeSport code (which you can download from the SafeSport website): hazing, bullying, harassment, emotional misconduct, physical misconduct and sexual misconduct, including child sexual abuse. The Center has authority over the USEF and the other 46 national governing bodies in the Olympic movement to independently investigate allegations of these types of misconduct.
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The USEF website has a SafeSport section listing all individuals who have been sanctioned for violating the code. There are several types of suspensions: suspensions with a set end date; expulsion (which kicks members out but allows individuals to reapply for re-instatement after a set period of time) and permanent ineligibility. It also lists interim suspensions, in which certain individuals being investigated by SafeSport investigators may not compete until the end of the investigation.
You can see the full list, which includes SafeSport violations from all sports in the Olympic movement, on the USEF website. Click “Safe Sport” to get a list of all who have been sanctioned under that policy. The list includes each individual’s name, location, sport, violation and date sanctioned.
For more information about SafeSport, check out our story about the program.
