Press Releases
12/21/2023
Attorney General Tong Urges Congress to Pass NCAA Accountability Act of 2023
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong today joined a bipartisan coalition of 18 attorneys general in urging Congress to pass the NCAA Accountability Act of 2023. If signed into law, this legislation would ensure that the NCAA provides transparent due process in its investigations and create fairness for student-athletes, coaches, and institutions. Additionally, it would establish a meaningful enforcement mechanism by authorizing the United States Department of Justice to take certain legal action, including fines or removal, against the NCAA or individuals who violate the law.“The NCAA is judge, jury and executioner in their self-designed, opaque, and arbitrary investigation regime. Their unchecked authority has real, and severe consequences for student athletes and their teams and universities. The NCAA Accountability Act would create a long-overdue system of accountability and oversight, and I join attorneys general across the country in urging Congress to pass it,” said Attorney General Tong.
This bipartisan effort provides a real solution to a meaningful problem in higher education–the NCCA’s unchecked concentration of power–which leaves our student-athletes vulnerable to mistreatment, distracts both students and universities from their educational priorities, and results in unequal treatment that can deprive students, coaches, and institutions of a fair process.
Given the economic powerhouse that college sports have become, such NCAA investigations can harm not only the level of competition in respective sports but damage the financial well-being of higher institutions and the surrounding areas. Additionally, such investigations effectively deprive student-athletes of Name, Image, and Likeness [NIL] opportunities.
The NCAA’s mistreatment of universities and individuals via lengthy, opaque, and arbitrary investigations has become a cornerstone of its version of justice. This Act would end that system of injustice by mandating a legal framework to constrain the worst potential abuses of the NCAA’s authority.
Connecticut joined the following in sending this letter to Congress: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Utah.
The full letter can be read here.
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