Nassar scandal may send USOC into bankruptcy

Faced with mounting condemnation and waves of troubling allegations, U.S. Olympic Committee leaders had few answers Friday for the future of their organization.

The USOC has come under siege in the wake of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal in which hundreds of young athletes were molested.

Earlier this week, an independent report detailed the organization’s failure to respond to initial allegations against Nassar. Congress joined the fray Friday, asking the FBI to investigate whether a former USOC executive made “materially false statements” before a Senate panel.

These developments have brought calls for the entire USOC board to resign, along with speculation the organization might file for bankruptcy amid lawsuits from Nassar victims.

USOC leaders were asked if either of those possibilities were raised during a daylong board meeting in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“That was not part of the discussion,” Chief Executive Sarah Hirshland told reporters.

Nassar, 55, who worked as a sports doctor for Michigan State, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic team, is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.

The scandal has rocked amateur sports in the U.S., with USA Gymnastics overhauling its leadership, filing for bankruptcy and potentially losing its authority as a national governing body.

The USOC has come under increased pressure because of this week’s report, which it commissioned. The law firm of Ropes & Gray confirmed that former USOC Chief Executive Scott Blackmun first heard about allegations against Nassar in 2015, but that he and a colleague kept the matter to themselves for more than a year.

Nassar’s wrongdoing did not become widely known until the Indianapolis Star wrote a series of articles in late 2016, by which time more women had been molested.

Blackmun, who eventually resigned to deal with prostate cancer, was questioned by Congress last summer and claimed to have informed his staff about Nassar immediately after hearing the allegations in 2015.

david.wharton@latimes.com Twitter: @LAtimesWharton