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Russians Suspended from 2018 Winter Olympics, May Compete as Independents

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U.S. Sports Academy
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Russians Suspended from 2018 Winter Olympics, May Compete as Independents
A fan holding the Russian flag at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Photo: David J. Phillip/Associated Press

The International Olympic Committee Executive Board today announced that Russian athletes will only be allowed to participate at Pyeongchang 2018 under a neutral flag following the publication of the results of the Schmid Report investigation into Russian doping.

Over 17 months of extensive work, the Schmid Commission investigated claims of state-sponsored doping among Russian athletes at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games.

The conclusions of the Schmid Report, on both factual and legal aspects, confirmed “the systemic manipulation of the anti-doping rules and system in Russia, through the Disappearing Positive Methodology and during the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, as well as the various levels of administrative, legal and contractual responsibility, resulting from the failure to respect the respective obligations of the various entities involved.”

As a result, the IOC Executive Board announced the following decisions:

  • To suspend the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) with immediate effect.
  • To invite individual Russian athletes under strict conditions to the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. These invited athletes will participate, be it in individual or team competitions, under the name “Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR)”. They will compete with a uniform bearing this name and under the Olympic Flag. The Olympic Anthem will be played in any ceremony.
  • Not to accredit any official from the Russian Ministry of Sport for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
  • To exclude the then Minister of Sport, Vitaly Mutko, and his then Deputy Minister, Yuri Nagornykh, from any participation in all future Olympic Games.
  • To withdraw Dmitry Chernyshenko, the former CEO of the Organizing Committee Sochi 2014, from the Coordination Commission Beijing 2022.
  • To suspend ROC President Alexander Zhukov as an IOC Member, given that his membership is linked to his position as ROC President.
  • The IOC reserves the right to take measures against and sanction other individuals implicated in the system.
  • The ROC to reimburse the costs incurred by the IOC on the investigations and to contribute to the establishment of the Independent Testing Authority (ITA) for the total sum of $15 million, to build the capacity and integrity of the global anti-doping system.
  • The IOC may partially or fully lift the suspension of the ROC from the commencement of the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 provided these decisions are fully respected and implemented by the ROC and by the invited athletes and officials.
  • The IOC will issue operational guidelines for the implementation of these decisions.

“This was an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “The IOC EB, after following due process, has issued proportional sanctions for this systemic manipulation while protecting the clean athletes. This should draw a line under this damaging episode and serve as a catalyst for a more effective anti-doping system led by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).

“As an athlete myself, I feel very sorry for all the clean athletes from all NOCs who are suffering from this manipulation. Working with the IOC Athletes’ Commission, we will now look for opportunities to make up for the moments they have missed on the finish line or on the podium.”

The following statement regarding the IOC decision on Russia participation in the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 is attributable to Scott Blackmun, CEO of the United States Olympic Committee:

“The IOC took a strong and principled decision,” Blackmun said. “There were no perfect options, but this decision will clearly make it less likely that this ever happens again. Now it is time to look ahead to PyeongChang.”

From combined reports

Special Call for Articles: Addressing Corruption in Sport

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U.S. Sports Academy
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Special Call for Articles: Addressing Corruption in Sport

The world of sport in recent years has been rocked by highly visible ethical failures and blatant corruption that has stretched from the local and college level to the pinnacles of international competition.  Whether it is financial corruption in international soccer, bribery related to the awarding of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs by Russia in the Olympic Games, or the vast recruiting bribery and fraud case in American college basketball, sport recently has seen some of its greatest scandals.

What are the forces behind these crises in sport?  How do governing bodies and other leaders prevent a perilous loss of faith in sport and its principles of honesty, integrity, and fair play? What can be done long term about corruption in sport?

The United States Sports Academy invites you to help address the issue of corruption in sport through your writing. The Sport Digest is currently issuing a special call for articles on the subject. Submit today and be a part of the solution of the crisis of corruption in sport. Submissions can be sent via email to communications@ussa.edu.

By the United States Sports Academy

IOC Targets 20,000 Drug Tests Before Pyeongchang 2018

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Inside The Games
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IOC Targets 20,000 Drug Tests Before Pyeongchang 2018
A Rio 2016 Olympic Games drug testing lab. Photo: Rio2016.com

“Significant operational” control will still be taken by the new Independent Testing Authority (ITA) in the management of the anti-doping system at February’s Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, it has been promised.

IOC medical and scientific director Richard Budgett also revealed here today, during an Executive Board meeting, that they hope to conduct more than 20,000 drug tests as part of an expanded pre-Games testing program before the start of the event in South Korea.

Budgett said that the ITA should still assume responsibility for the distribution of tests as well as determining whether failed tests become positive cases.

They will also be responsible for awarding Therepeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) permitting athletes to take otherwise banned substances for medical reasons and for referring cases to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to make a final verdict.

If it turns out that they are not operational to do this by February, the Doping Free Sport Unit within the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF, nee. SportAccord) will perform the role instead.

Budgett added that the ITA will then expand its role through 2018 and 2019 to replace International Federations as the testing body.

It is not yet clear exactly how many sports bodies will work alongside, with some of the largest federations such as the International Association of Athletics Federations and the International Tennis Federations, still believed not to be keen.

“We’re in a fantastic position,” said Budgett, an Olympic rowing gold medalist for Great Britain at Los Angeles 1984.

“Around 40 federations – Olympic, recognized and non-recognized  – are already committed through GAISF, and a number of others have expressed strong interest.

“It is difficult to totally commit until the ITA is completely set-up, but I would expect it to grow quite fast through 2018 and 2019.”

The ITA will be based “around Lausanne” because, although it will be “separate and independent” from IFs, it is still important to be close to its main stakeholder to exchange expertise about anti-doping practices specific to individual sports.

“IFs cannot wash their hands of responsibility,” Budgett said.

“They are still responsible under WADA Code but are delegating authority.”

Budgett could not confirm whether CAS would assume responsibility for delivering final verdicts on all ITA cases, as it is doing at Pyeongchang 2018.

“It will be up to the ITA in future whether to carry on with that or whether they prosecute cases themselves,” he said.

A total of 7,000 tests have so far been carried out before Pyeongchang 2018 on 4,000 athletes.

It is expected that this number will now increase towards the 20,000 total now that the winter sporting season has started.

The targeted pre-Games testing task force is run jointly by WADA and the IOC in conjunction with sporting bodies and umbrella bodies to specifically target athletes based on specific intelligence and whether they are from high-risk sports and countries.

“The Russian athletes have been tested more than others by a considerable margin,” Budgett admitted.

“Requirements have been issued to the international federations and Russian Anti-Doping Agency for the level of testing of those athletes.”

He was speaking shortly before an IOC decision on how to sanction Russian participation in Pyeongchang following evidence of doping and sample tampering at Sochi 2014.

A total of 25 Russian athletes have so far been retrospectively suspended by the IOC.

By Nick Butler

Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz. 

Investigators Eye Claim Iranian Wrestler Lost Match to Avoid Israeli in Next Round

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Inside The Games
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Investigators Eye Claim Iranian Wrestler Lost Match to Avoid Israeli in Next Round
Iranian wrestler Alireza Karimi-Machiani. Photo: Tasnim news

An investigation has been launched into a match between Russia’s Alikhan Zhabrayilov and Alireza Karimi at the recent Under-23 Wrestling World Championships in Poland following claims the Iranian deliberately lost to avoid a meeting with an Israeli wrestler in the next round.

United World Wrestling (UWW) has confirmed it is looking into the allegations that Karimi’s coach ordered him to lose the contest as he would have gone on to face Israel’s Uri Kalashnikov in the second round of the under 86 kilograms category.

In a statement, UWW said they were investigating “irregularities” surrounding the match.

“As reported in several news outlets it’s believed that Karimi was directed by his coaches to lose the match in avoidance of a potential second-round opponent,” the statement added.

Zhabrayilov, who went on to win the gold medal in the category, comfortably won the bout 14-3 and went on to thrash Israel’s Kalashnikov 10-0 in round two.

Karimi was praised by Iran’s Government afterwards.

He told the news agency Iranian Students News Agency that he was leading the match 3-2 when his coach told him he should deliberately lose.

“In a moment, my whole world seemed to come to an end,” he said.

“I tried hard for months to get the world gold medal.

“Achieving a world medal is the only happiness for any of us.”

The Iranian Government thanked Karimi for losing the match, claiming he had performed an “noble and heroic action”.

He was also labelled as a “source of pride and praise”.

Iran’s Wrestling Federation also described Karimi as a hero.

Iran and Israel do not have diplomatic relations and are seen as bitter enemies.

Athletes from Iran have been known to pull out of matches against Israeli opponents and are often thanked for doing so by their Government.

By Liam Morgan

Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz. 

Sitting Out the Conference Championship Bonus

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U.S. Sports Academy
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Sitting Out the Conference Championship Bonus
There’s a real downside to being in a conference championship game – if you lose you can wind up in a less desirable bowl than someone in your conference who didn’t even make it to the conference title game. An extreme case is this year’s SEC Championship game, where Alabama catapulted over Auburn to the College Football Playoff after Auburn lost to Georgia in the SEC Championship, even after Auburn beat Alabama heads-up in the regular season. Photo via Wikimedia Commons

When is not playing an advantage? The answer is the Power Five Conference Championship games. These games pit the winners of each of the two divisions in the conference against one another. It seems a reasonable system but it is not so. The problem results from the fact the so-called Championship Game is nothing of the sort; the true NCAA Champion comes from one of four teams chosen to participate in the playoff system and other Bowl Games are of enormous financial concern as well.

This means the team that loses the Conference Championship game often ends up playing in a less prestigious, read profitable, Bowl Game than did another team from the same conference that didn’t win their division. This year we see a particularly glaring example of the problem in that Alabama was invited to the College Playoffs despite not winning their division of the SEC. Alabama is going to the playoffs while Auburn, who defeated them during the regular season, is relegated to a lesser bowl because they lost the Conference Championship.

I’ll be honest, I’ve got a bone to pick with this one. The University of Missouri, the team for which I root, lost the SEC Conference Championship Game in both 2013 and 2014. In each of those years another team in the SEC that didn’t make it to the Championship Game received a more lucrative bowl offer. This is because they didn’t lose their last game. This is the dilemma. By playing in the Conference Championship game a team risks losing and being demoted. Meanwhile other teams in the same conferences don’t play, and generally move up in the polls because of this inactivity.

This strikes at my sensibilities. It is certainly possible the two best teams in a particular conference came from the same division and are both deserving, but it is also likely the third best team in a conference ends up being ranked higher than the second because the better team lost in the Championship Game.

This year with Alabama might be an extreme version of what I’m talking about but it is hardly an isolated incident. It happens every year in at least one of the Five Power Conferences. A team that fails to win its division gets a bonus because they don’t have to play in the Championship Game.

Is there a solution? I think there is, although it is hardly perfect. I’m of the opinion no inactive team should be able to leapfrog a team that loses their Conference Championship Game. This runs into issues when the divisions are not equally weighted. Say the second-place team in one division is obviously superior to the first-place team in the other division. Still, the point of having divisions is to play the lucrative Conference Championship game and we should reward the teams who end up in first place. Another problem is that rankings are not a final arbiter in Bowl Games. Bowl Committees can invite whomever they like to play.

If I had my way, Alabama would not be ranked ahead of Auburn. In addition, Washington should not be rated ahead of Stanford who lost to USC in the Pac 12 Championship Game.

What do you think?

By Tom Liberman

Tom Liberman is a regular fellow from St. Louis, Mo., who enjoys spending time with his wonderful family and great friends. He writes Sword and Sorcery fantasy novels in his spare time.

IOC trying to perform delicate balancing act as Russia faces Pyeongchang 2018 ban

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U.S. Sports Academy
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IOC trying to perform delicate balancing act as Russia faces Pyeongchang 2018 ban
Bach and Putin meet ahead of the Sochi Olympic Games. Photo: kremlin.ru

Russia is not currently contemplating a boycott of next year’s Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang but the final decision will rest with President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin admitted today.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board are expected to rule here tomorrow that Russia should be banned from taking part under their own flag at Pyeongchang 2018 following allegations of institutionalised doping.

That, in turn, has led to fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin will retaliate by refusing to let other athletes from his country compete.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a press briefing in Moscow today that it is not something currently under consideration.

“No, it is not under consideration,” he said, according to Russia’s official state news agency TASS. 

It will be up to Putin, though, to ultimately decide whether the country’s athletes are allowed to compete following the official IOC decision tomorrow.

The allegations made in two World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-commissioned reports by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren include systematic state-sponsored subversion of the drug testing processes by the Russian Government during and subsequent to the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi.

Peskov told the briefing that Russia “remains unwilling to accept many decisions concerning our athletes that WADA has made”.

Putin is due to make a major televised nationwide address in Russia on Wednesday (December 6) about volunteerism where he is expected to address the matter of the country’s participation at Pyeongchang 2018.

“We oppose the violation of our athletes’ rights, we are against groundless violations of rights, but at the same time, Russia remains committed to the Olympic ideas, as President Putin said, it is his decision,” Peskov said, according to TASS.

The IOC have, insidethegames understands, already contacted its official uniform supplier Nike to design kit for Russian athletes to wear as neutral athletes.

Several different factions in Moscow have been trying to influence what action Putin will take if Russia are banned.

These range from accepting the decision and being conciliatory on the condition that missing Pyeongchang 2018 will mark the only sanction Russia faces and will be allowed to compete under its own flag at future Olympic Games, including Tokyo 2020, to aggressive retaliation.

The fear is, though, this could drag the crisis on for several more years and Russian sport could become increasingly isolated.

The wording of the IOC statement after tomorrow’s announcement is thought to be crucial in determining what action Putin will eventually order.

A total of 25 Russian athletes have so far been disqualified from Sochi 2014 after appearing before an IOC Disciplinary Commission chaired by Executive Committee member Denis Oswald.

A separate Commission chaired by former Swiss President Samuel Schmid has been investigating allegations of institutionalised doping in Russia.

They completed their report today and copies of his verdict delivered to the IOC Executive Board members in time for their meeting tomorrow.

Both Oswald and Schmid are due to present their findings to the IOC Executive Board at 1.30 pm tomorrow.

A total of four-and-a-half hours has been set aside to discuss the issue before Bach is scheduled to officially announce the decision at a press conference at 7.30pm.

It is the findings of the Schmid Commission which are expected to form the basis of the IOC’s decision, which in turn will be heavily influenced by the direction they are told to take by its President Thomas Bach.

A system of which Russian athletes are allowed to compete at Pyeongchang 2018 is set to be based on the model used by the International Association of Athletics Federations for this year’s World Championships in London.

The IAAF enforced guidelines which including athletes having to show they were not directly implicated “in any way by their National Federation’s failure to put in place adequate systems to protect and promote clean athletes”.

A key criteria expected to be adopted by the IOC is that anyone named on a key database obtained last month by WADA, reportedly containing the names of several thousand Russian athletes allegedly involved in a doping programme between January 2012 and August 2015, is not allowed to compete at Pyeongchang 2018.

It will be up to the International Federations to rule on which athletes are eligible followed by an IOC vetting process.

By Duncan Mackay

Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz. 

College Football Playoffs Set: Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama

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U.S. Sports Academy
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College Football Playoffs Set: Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama
Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama logos via Wikimedia Commons

After a see-saw end to the college football season in which Auburn University defeated number one Georgia and number one Alabama, only to lose in a rematch to Georgia in the SEC Championship game, this year’s College Football Playoff (CFP) is set.

Clemson enters as the number one seed as the defending National Champions romped the University of Miami in the ACC title game.

Here’s the College Football Playoff field:

Clemson (12-1) is the number one seed and will play number four seed Alabama (11-1) in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.

Oklahoma (12-1), which defeated TCU in the Big 12 title game, is the number two seed and will face number three seed Georgia (12-1) in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.

Despite not winning the SEC Championship, the one-loss Crimson Tide was selected for the four-seed spot over Ohio State, which won the Big Ten title game over undefeated Wisconsin. Ohio State won its conference but saw its hopes dashed by two losses earlier in the season — by 15 to Oklahoma and 31 to Iowa. Alabama’s lone loss was to No. 7 Auburn on the road.

“As we saw Alabama play week in and week out, the selection committee believed Alabama was the better football team,” said College Football Playoff committee chairman Kirby Hocutt after the announcement on 3 December.  “When we looked at Ohio State, their resume it was impressive but it wasn’t enough for the selection committee to place them in above Alabama.

“We don’t look at conference affiliation. We look at the four best teams.”

No two-loss teams made the playoff, despite passionate arguments in sport circles regarding strength of schedule among potential playoff teams.

The playoffs promise to provide several interesting story lines:

  • Clemson and Alabama will play in a semi-final game, replicating the past two years of CFP National Championships, won by Alabama in 2015-16 and Clemson in 2016-17. Since the two teams play in the semi-finals, there will be no re-match in the Championship.
  • Since Alabama and Georgia both hail from the SEC, semi-final wins by the two teams would mean the first Championship game between two teams of the same conference since the CFP system began in 2014-2015.
  • This year could be the first that a previous CFP National Champion won a second Championship. The three National Champions to date, in order, are Ohio State (2014-15), Alabama (2015-16) and Clemson (2016-17), two of which are in this year’s playoffs.

The College Football Playoff is an annual postseason tournament to determine the national champion of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)’s Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of college football in the United States. The inaugural tournament was held during the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Four teams play in two semifinal games, and the winner of each semifinal advances to the College Football Playoff National Championship. A 13-member committee selects and seeds the four teams to take part.

This year’s College Football Playoff National Championship game is set for Monday, 8 January 2017, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.

By Keith Ayers

Keith Ayers is the Communications Director at the United States Sports Academy.

Three More Russians Disqualified from Sochi 2014 after Oswald Commission Probe

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Inside The Games
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Three More Russians Disqualified from Sochi 2014 after Oswald Commission Probe
FILE - In this Sunday, March 9, 2014 file photo, Russia's Olga Zaitseva celebrates her third place in the women's 12.5km mass start at the biathlon World Cup competition in Pokljuka, Slovenia. The International Olympic Committee has disqualified three more Russian athletes from the 2014 Sochi Olympics for doping, including one of the country's greatest biathletes, it was reported on Friday, Dec. 1, 2017. Photo: Darko Bandic, AP

Three more Russians have been disqualified from Sochi 2014 following investigations by the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Oswald Commission, including biathlon silver medalist Olga Zaitseva.

Twenty-five athletes from the country have now been sanctioned following their home Games as the IOC investigates a massive doping scandal.

As well as Zaitseva, who won silver as part of Russia’s 4×6 kilometer relay quartet in Sochi, cross-country skiers Yulia Chekaleva and Anastasia Dotsenko have also been disqualified.

Like the other Russians sanctioned to date, all three have been declared ineligible for future editions of the Olympic Games as well as having their Sochi results declared void.

The relay team had already been stripped of their medals as two other members, Yana Romanova and Olga Vilukhina, were earlier punished by the Owsald Commission.

Ekaterina Shumilova is the remaining team member with Norway now set to win silver and the Czech Republic bronze, behind gold medalists Ukraine.

The IOC said they would release reasoned decisions for their verdicts against the trio “in due course”, with today’s announcement only confirming that they had been found guilty of anti-doping rule violations.

However, it has previously been reported that 39-year-old Zaitseva, who is now retired, was under investigation due to scratches found on her urine samples.

This reportedly followed IOC analysis conducted in conjunction with a Lausanne Laboratory.

All of the Russians involved so far have been accused of involvement in a doping and sample tampering program at Sochi 2014.

Those still competing are expected to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a bid to be able to participate at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics in February.

Russian participation at the Games in South Korea remains in doubt amid the crisis with the IOC due to make a decision on the issue on Tuesday (December 5).

Individual hearings have been held with 26 Russian athletes so far, with figure skating gold medalist Adelina Sotnikova the only person cleared.

The IOC said 36 disciplinary cases had been opened, however, paving the way for results against 10 more athletes to be released.

However, they seem to be operating to a tight deadline to reveal this information with Tuesday’s verdict looming.

The Oswald Commission, led by Swiss IOC member Denis Oswald, has been working to develop a scientific basis for proving claims that urine sample bottles had been interfered with.

In its first reasoned decision on a disqualified athlete this week, the IOC concluded that cross-country skier Alexander Legkov should be banned as “conclusive multiple T marks” had been found on his sample bottles.

The International Ski Federation admitted yesterday that the evidence was “convincing” and suspended Legkov and five other skiers.

They were all named on former Moscow Laboratory director turned whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov’s “Duchess List”, containing the names of “protected” Russian athletes.

Rodchenkov’s evidence has provided much of the fuel for the claims against Russia but he is a pariah in his home country.

Zaitseva still holds two Olympic gold medals from Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010 in the 4x6km relay.

She also won silver in the 12.5km mass start event in Vancouver and is a triple world champion.

In Sochi, she also finished fourth in the mixed relay and competed in four individual events with a best finish of 11th.

Chekaleva had a best finish of sixth in the 4x5km cross-country relay and didn’t make the top ten in three other disciplines.

Dotsenko was sixth in the team sprint and 22nd in the individual sprint.

By Dan Palmer

Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz. 

Time to Take a Real Look at TV Ratings

By
Evan Weiner
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Time to Take a Real Look at TV Ratings
A detail of a helmet and yard marker during the NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday, October 18, 2012 in San Francisco, California. Photo: AP

It is time to stop whining about the decline in National Football League television ratings and take a look at overall television ratings and understand this: All television ratings are best guesses and there is for whatever reason appears to be fewer people watching all television.

There is one story that television viewership in October fell by 11 percent across the board. Young people are turning to phones and tablets to watch programming. Tens of millions of people have cut the cord which explains in part the drop off of NFL ratings on ESPN. The average age of people watching sports on TV is creeping up. The average age of PGA watchers in 2016 according to Sports Business Daily data was 64, figure skating was also 64, the LPGA and Horse Racing at 63, Men’s Tennis, 61, NASCAR 56, Major League Baseball 57, women’s tennis 56, Olympics 53, college football and college basketball 52 the NFL 50, the NHL, boxing and the UFC 49, the NBA 42 and Major League Soccer 40. Advertisers try to target two groups of men in the sports category, 18-34 year olds and 25-54 year olds. The NFL is still within that band as are the college sports, the Olympics, the NHL, the NBA, Major League Soccer, the UFC and a surprise boxing.

There is a simplistic thought that the national anthem protests have hurt the business of the NFL and have driven down TV ratings. However, do some research and you find that the final NASCAR race of the season on November 19 saw a drop in overnight ratings from a 3.3 in 2016 to a 2.7. The ratings for this year’s World Series fell. There were no anthem protests in NASCAR and just one in Major League Baseball during the season. Markets are shifting. Too many people are still rooted in the old ratings system. The times are a changing.

By Evan Weiner For The Politics Of Sports Business

This article was republished with permission from the original publisher, Evan Weiner.

Armour: NFL, Players Coalition Agreement on Social Justice Efforts a Good Start

By
Nancy Armour
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Armour: NFL, Players Coalition Agreement on Social Justice Efforts a Good Start
Baltimore Ravens players, including former player Ray Lewis, second from right, kneel down during the playing of the national anthem before a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Photo: Matt Dunham / AP

It’s a start.

The proposed agreement between the NFL and the Players Coalition to formalize and fund social justice reform efforts is not perfect, by any means. The announcement Thursday left as many questions as it answered – how, specifically, it will be funded being the most obvious one – and the absence of Eric Reid, the first player to join Colin Kaepernick in the protests during the national anthem, is a concern.

But the divide in our country is not only disheartening, it’s become dangerous. There’s a segment of our population that can’t – or won’t – see that people of color continue to be discriminated against and marginalized. Meanwhile, the FBI said earlier this month that hate crimes rose for the second consecutive year in 2016, with more than half of the victims targeted because of their race or ethnicity.

Think what you will of the protests by Kaepernick and the other players, but they’ve started a conversation this country has to have. It’s going to take more than talk to bridge the divide, though, which is where the fund comes in.

It focuses on three areas that play a significant role in racial inequality: Criminal justice reform legislation; police and community relations; and education and economic advancement.

Many of the 40-plus players in the Coalition already are doing work in these areas, lobbying local and federal legislators, organizing listening sessions with police and residents and supporting scholarship programs. But the sad reality is those efforts, done in the players’ free time, don’t get the same kind of attention as kneeling or raising a fist during the anthem.

By Nancy Armour

This article was republished with permission from the original author and 2015 Ronald Reagan Media Award recipient, Nancy Armour, and the original publisher, USA Today. Follow columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.

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