New York (AFP)
The American Gymnastics Federation has made an offer of $ 215 million to victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by former national team doctor, Larry Nassar, to compensate them, a plan that the lawyer for more than 200 of them described as "inadmissible".
The offer was revealed on Thursday in a 76-page reorganization plan filed by the court with the US bankruptcy court in the southern Indiana district.
Olympic gymnasts, including Olympic champions Simone Biles, Gabrielle Douglas and Aly Raisman, are among more than 300 people who have sued USA Gymnastics for failing to protect them from Nassar.
The latter, who abused these athletes between 1996 and 2014, was sentenced in 2018 to terms ranging from 40 to 125 years in prison.
The American Gymnastics Federation, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to compensate victims, says victims can vote as a group to accept the $ 215 million compensation (around EUR 194 million).
"Our goal has always been to reach an amicable settlement through the bankruptcy process," said federation president and chief executive officer Li Li Leung.
John Manly, the lawyer for more than 200 athletes who accused Nassar, called the plan "unacceptable". "There is a better chance that (US President) Donald Trump will support (his political rival) Bernie Sanders, that the victims will accept this offer," he told the New York Times.
Manly added to the Indianapolis Star that USA Gymnastics' reorganization plan showed "constant and blatant disregard" for the more than 500 women who participate in its programs.
"This plan does not include the essential structural changes necessary to keep girls safe, nor does it adequately address the countless physical and emotional challenges that victims have faced since these crimes," he lambasted.
"Even more troubling, this proposed plan attempts to absolve the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) from any responsibility for the crimes that were committed under its supervision," he added.
"It is time to ask ourselves why the sponsors continue to support a body manifestly indifferent to the sexual assaults perpetrated against little girls and women," Manly also tweeted.
© 2020 AFP