I thought the name sounded familiar. https://inside.fei.org/system/files/Ali%20Nilforushan%20-%20Final%20Tribunal%20Decision%20-%203%20September%202012.pdf
Suspended by the FEI for using TCH and a masking agent (diuretic) in 2012. It was the attempt to shift the blame, and use his personal and financial problems as an excuse, that made me remember his name.
I never heard of the guy until this event. He claims that the complaint is the result of him having had a brief and public conversational interaction with someone who appeared to be intoxicated and that nothing sexual or improper occurred and that several witnesses to said interaction will testify to Safesport on his behalf. Given that he plies his trade in Wine Country, he’s been walking through a minefield since Safesport went into effect, though he did court and marry a significantly younger woman when she was barely an adult, so I can understand why there’s some concern. However, I find it a bit troublesome that Safesport apparently didn’t bother to approach him before this sanction, as (assuming what he’s saying is the basic root cause of this sanction) it seems like a big misstep. Safesport can - according to their processes - go the Sneak Attack Route, but it’s my understanding that it’s not supposed to be the norm and should be used for specific types of cases.
I know nothing about the man or the Safe Sport issue. I just knew that I recognized his name from somewhere. Of course using pot and being dodgy about the circumstances in the past, doesn’t mean that he is guilty of a safe sport violation.
I do tend to give more credence to people who are forthright and honest when they have broken a rule though. No one is perfect, but a person’s character tends to come to the forefront when they make a mistake. You can either shuffle and lie or admit your mistake, take responsibility, and move on.
Good people do make mistakes (I’m speaking of the positive THC and diuretic medication violation, I have no idea what the S.S. business is about) but I find it disturbing when people make excuses or lie after being caught.
Looking a bit further into Mr. Ali Nilforushan’s behavior…
He is apparently one of those people that is willing to split hairs as far as hiring sex offenders and has done so in the past, as this incredibly shaming (for USEF et al) article from 2020 makes clear. https://www.ocregister.com/2020/02/19/two-suspended-by-u-s-center-for-safesport-remain-involved-in-equestrian/
It seems to me after reading this article, that his attempt to weasel out of the pot charges from the FEI is not a one off.
Mr. Nilforushan, unfortunately and inexplicably, continues to hire that same course designer mentioned in the 2020 article, who by any reasonable person’s judgement, should be nowhere near young girls. https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/906edb5f/files/uploaded/TVN%20FALL%20Prize%20List%20Nov%208.pdf
Why would anyone who is taking kids to these shows not demand that the show management not hire people that are registered sex offenders, whether they were allowed by USEF to participate in a “restricted” 
manner or not. Who does that?
Everyone, the parents, the children and the teenagers deserve better from you Mr. Nilforushan. You choose who you hire and who you have as representatives of your horse shows. Registered sex offenders , really?
Someone I used to be friends with hired a farrier who, raped a disabled boy several times (they said it was consentual - even the parents - but the child was under 16 and had down syndrome).
I asked her why she hired this guy, and why he she left him around her students in the barn (under 12!!) and she said, he’s a good farrier and hes harmless.
I just couldn’t understand why you employ such scum…like it was nothing.
Yuck. I can’t imagine continuing to employ them.
Been forever since I posted on COTH and this thread. I find the new format challenging. But major news happened in the Gymnastics world today - John Geddert (Olympic Coach tied closely to Larry Nassar) was charged in Michigan with multiple felonies… including 20 counts of human trafficking… and he has subsequently committed suicide.
I feel horribly for the many many victims in the gymnastics community who have been robbed at a chance to see full legal accountability with respect to this AWFUL man.
I’ve stepped away from all SafeSport issues for a long time, for my own emotional well being. But this news brought me back to this thread. There is no easy solution to this awful problem in sport. Safe Sport is imperfect. But… after really learning the depth of depravity involving MULTIPLE Olympic Coaches in MULTIPLE sports… people who were enabled for decades… I think having Safe Sport is better than not having it.
He was charged with 20 counts of human trafficking. That’s NOT a minor thing. He coached young girls in women’s gymnastics for decades, including Olympic Teams. Just think about that. So incredibly horrible.
I just read the story about him being charged today. Wow
More details on the felony charges they had just filed against Geddert, especially with respect to the human trafficking counts.
A few particularly interesting passages from this link:
“ Ms. Nessel said at a press conference earlier Thursday that prosecutors “believe that the human trafficking charges are applicable to the set of circumstances you’ll be hearing about when all of the evidence is produced in court.”
“It is alleged that John Geddert used force, fraud and coercion against the young athletes that came to him for gymnastics training, for financial benefit to him,” she said.
“Female gymnasts often train as children and young teenagers for 30 hours a week or more, and their competitive careers at the highest level of the sport typically peak before they turn 18. Yet they and other child athletes in sports such as figure skating have generally been treated as customers and beneficiaries of their training clubs and their coaches, not as workers.”
“Much still remains unclear about how he was not stopped sooner. Lawsuits against institutions including USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee remain unsettled. In recent months, athletes have spoken out against what they call abusive coaching by top officials in the United States.
Some activists described Michigan’s approach in charging Mr. Geddert as potentially revolutionary for child athletes.
“This a game-changer,” said Marci Hamilton, chief executive and legal director of the CHILD USA non-profit think tank that works to end child abuse. “There have been gifted athletes working with coaches for decades and used and abused by coaches for their own financial gain and finally we have a prosecutor that sees the connection.”
…
The Justice Department’s money-laundering and child-exploitation units and the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C. have also been pursuing wide-ranging criminal investigations into sexual abuse in U.S. Olympic sports organizations, including USA Gymnastics, and into potential financial and business misconduct throughout the U.S. Olympic system. The status of those investigations is unclear.
A lot of the comments I saw online were along the lines of “oh good, now we won’t waste tax dollars in court” etc, but I think many of the women would rather have had him held accountable for what he did. Now he’s dead, was charged but not legally found guilty, right? The full extent of what he did may never come out, possibly including any others who helped him along the way.
I also don’t understand why he was being allowed to turn himself in. I see that he was charged the same day he was supposed to be arraigned, and the same day he killed himself. Why wasn’t he taken into custody before the arraignment? Lots of people online comparing it to a minor drug infraction, where that person would be held in custody, not allowed to self-report.
I saw these comments too. But they miss the mark on multiple levels, IMO.
The Michigan AG was pursuing the trafficking charges using a novel argument about the minor gymnasts being used by Geddert for his personal financial gain with respect to his gym and coaching businesses, while simultaneously KNOWINGLY being subjected to appalling abuse (not only sexual w/ respect to Nassar, but also extreme physical and emotional abuse). It’s a stretch… but an interesting perspective. This case had the potential to set a powerful precedent with respect to elite coaches at the top of various Olympic sports, who profit from coaching these minor/young adult athletes, but who also abuse them.
It’s interesting to look at multiple aspects of the arguments they made for leveling the charges they did against Geddert… and then think about applying those arguments to some of the well known working student/abuse arrangements related to Hunterdon decades ago, and to Flintridge back during the JW era when many well known names were minors. On some level… when abusive coaches are both profiting from their businesses with coaching children, while also abusing the children (or exposing the kids to situations where they are abused… or both)… anyway… there are elements of child trafficking in these situations when you think about it. Add in the layers of people in and around these folks who are involved in the “business” side of the sport, but are also actively enabling the abuser, turning a blind eye, sourcing victims for the abuser, intimidating victims into silence, etc, etc… and yeah… that also bears a striking similarity to many elements of how human trafficking operations are known to work.
My guess is that had he not committed suicide, these charges still would have been a tough case to make. But it would have been powerful to watch it all play out.
The other sad aspect of suicide is that it’s another layer of trauma for everyone involved. Geddert was widely reviled. He was an incredibly abusive human being. But think back to Rob Gage’s death. It rocked the entire sport, because he was a widely liked person… and people really struggled to come to terms with the allegations against him, as well as the circumstances of his death. Some ghoulish souls went so far as to blame SafeSport and victims for his death. And months later, after the GM ban, AFE was born (ugggh). And I started this thread to facilitate a discussion pushing back on that. I doubt the reaction to Geddert’s death will be anything like that… but all the same… suicide leaves a mess in its wake. And the victims were so close to another level of closure with their abuser facing multiple felony charges. It’s really really sad.
Actually… there is an update to the Bob McDonald case. I posted on one of the threads dedicated to that topic, but the OC Register came out with a long article on Feb. 5 detailing much of the allegations behind the SafeSport complaints. One can only assume the complainants went directly to the OC Register with their stories and supporting information/documents…
Frankly… this case is heartbreaking to read in detail about. I looked on the forums and FB to see if anyone else had shared this article yet, or if AFE had commented on this… but I don’t see anything. I guess everyone took the whole “Bob McDonald was cleared” narrative at face value. But it seems like this case is in a sad sad state of limbo. And that the SafeSport investigator did make errors. It’s hard to know what to make of it all, except that it’a a really horrifying story to read, and it seems like the complainants didn’t want to go through with the arbitration process.
I can only assume that the folks at the OC Register did extensive fact checking before publishing this… if not… they may be on the receiving end of a lawsuit.
Thanks for posting the article.
When the case was dropped, I never interpreted that as saying that the allegations were proven false, but only that SS did not think they could meet the burden of proof in the arbitration.
I did not think that SS would have banned him without a thorough investigation and very substantial evidence, so the really shocking thing at the time was that it would have gotten to the ban, then be dropped by SS.
The article does an excellent job of clearing that mystery up — the two claimants/victims refused to testify in the arbitration. Since the claimants testimony, supported by others they told at the time, was the basis of the whole case, I think SS did the right thing in both deciding the allegations were credible and banning him, but also dropping the case when they refused to testify.
The victims were underage at the time of the alleged misconduct, but are nearly senior citizens now. It seems odd, inexplicable really, that they would initiate the complaint, go through the investigation, then say they would not testify in the arbitration.
Surely they would have known that unless McDonald implicitly accepted guilt by declining his right to arbitration (which is the adjudication part of the process), getting him banned would require them to testify.
At least one of the claimants blames SS for asking her if she were a virgin and asking about oral sex, but it seems to me that the now very adult victims are being kind of flaky to bring the allegations then refuse to appear at arbitration. Then probably deliberately destroy their anonymity by going to the press (and violating confidentiality agreements).
Again, thanks for the update. It explains a lot, but the case is still a mess.
While agreeing that he has not been proven innocent, it seems not entirely fair to McDonald to try to reopen the case given that it went as a far as a ban, and it was SS that dropped the arbitration. I know this is not a criminal trial, but that would seem analogous to double jeopardy.
It’s quite the scene to imagine the misconduct with young minors in the backdrop of McDonald currently married to his first wife and in some sort of relationship (perhaps just trainer) with the second wife. My life at that age was so boring (thankfully).
I was just reading about the Geddert story on the Twitter account belonging to a person in Figure Skating.There seems to be a group of survivors called “The Army of Survivors”.
The following tweet has a statement from the organization attached to it.
@YankeeDuchess - I agree that there is MUCH about this report and case that gives me pause. It’s a MESS.
I will say, I can understand why two women who are now almost 60 would complain to SafeSport about their alleged experience with McDonald when they were teens, after reading this article, and in the broader context of what has been happening in the sport. Their experience reminds me of some of the background of the Rob Gage case. But in the RG case, once the investigation got underway, it was determined that there were indeed more current victims. There is no public information indicating that there are more current victims with respect to McDonald.
After reading the article, I came away with the impression that:
McDonald refused to cooperate or participate in the investigation from the get go
The original complainant was deeply dissatisfied with how the SafeSport investigator handled her complaint, and when it came time to go to arbitration, she had lost confidence in SafeSport and the process. I guess I can understand a description of that as ‘flaky’ … but I can also understand a complainant in her position feeling vulnerable, and with McDonald’s threat w/ respect to lawsuits, a complainant backing away altogether in a situation like this.
I totally agree that in this situation, SafeSport’s subsequent decision to rescind the lifetime ban of McDonald makes sense. The case was administratively closed.
But here’s the thing that I still have trouble with about this story. I’m going to quote directly from a specific portion of the article published on February 5th…
“ SafeSport, however, in especially strong terms for the center, said both of McDonald’s assertions that the allegations against him were “proven false,” and that the case had been dropped because of new information, were “not true.”
“Absolutely not,” Dan Hill, a spokesman for SafeSport, said this week.
“The center is aware of his statement and it is not accurate as far as the center’s position,” Hill said.
Any additional information McDonald might have provided SafeSport, Hill said, had “absolutely nothing to do with the center’s” decision regarding arbitration.
McDonald denied knowing K.D. during the telephone interview. He was then informed that K.D. had provided SCNG photos of McDonald riding “Charlie” a horse she said she owned, a photo of Debbie McDonald riding the same horse, of Bob McDonald water skiing, McDonald driving a boat on the Colorado River, and of a ski boat K.D. said McDonald owned. The name of the boat was “Hot to Trott,” she said.
“I don’t know that person,” McDonald responded.
He also denied knowing the second alleged victim in the phone interview.
“I don’t know her,” he said.
A day after McDonald’s denial, his attorney said “He did not deny knowing (the second alleged victim.)”
Hmmmm. This is a bad look for McDonald. The reporter (Scott Reid - who is quite a good reporter, incidentally, and broke the Don Peters case I believe) called him up to get comments about the whole SafeSport case… presumably after getting details from K.D. … and McDonald clearly misrepresented the closure as if he was cleared, etc.
Here’s a later portion of the article involving a quote from McDonald that I find noteworthy…
“I did not have an inappropriate relationship of any sort sexual or otherwise, with minors athletes between 1973 through 1976 or any other year,” McDonald said in the affidavit to SafeSport. “I categorically deny any/all alleged wrongdoing. I believe the conduct of those (who) have made these allegations, and that of the Center, is purely vexatious and meant for the purpose of harassing myself, my wife, her participation in the Olympic games and movement, and our business interests.”
Soooo… if you read the details of the complaint in the OC Register article… you have to wonder why two different minors from that period knew where the condoms and lubricant were in his apartment… and why one of the minors had a contemporaneous witness from that period, who provided testimony to SafeSport saying K.D. Spoke to her at the time about the sexual relationship. Also… is there any evidence K.D. has reached out to McDonald or his wife in recent years, and shown an interest in harassing them? Is K.D. involved with horses in a professional way? If not, then why would she be Moro are’s to weaponize SafeSport in an attempt to damage the McDonald’s Olympic ties and business interests? And lastly… I thought McDonald (per his own previous statement) didn’t know who K.D. was… so why would a total stranger reach out to try and hurt his business?
Bottom line… this case is a bit of a mess on SafeSport’s end. The investigator sounds awful, and the primary complainant does seem to be a bit ‘flaky.’ But after reading this article, I come away with the impression that McDonald has been dishonest about multiple aspects of this matter.
And I hate to say it… but where does Debbie fall on some specific aspects of this case? Will she go on the record and state she doesn’t know who K.D. is, or who the horse was? Can Debbie corroborate/affirmatively dispute the alleged location of McDonald’s apartment during that time frame (likely that’s possible)? What about the boat? And other details? I don’t mean to beat up on Debbie with respect to old allegations… but she’s directly tied to a CURRENT USEF Olympic program. Her husband has now commented to reporters about certain aspects of his case, and the allegations against him. He’s denied knowing the complainant, and essentially called the person a vindictive liar. 
She can now either support his public statements, or she can say, “No comment.” I’m not going to judge her either way… I know many people who are fond of her personally, and this is a messy, sad situation. But the fact is that the complaint was made, evidence was gathered, and then the case was administratively closed. A few months later, when a reporter called Bob seeking comments… Bob provided comments. Which was NOT SMART. And now… Debbie and USEF need to deal with this latest messy wrinkle in this case. It is really unfortunate, but they need to deal with it one way or another, if they want to continue to have any credibility when it comes to SafeSport. If Debbie’s choice at present is to go with a “no comment” statement and support her husband (which I can understand I guess… they’ve been married a long time, and no comment seems to be a wise course of action)… then it seems to me it’s best for Debbie to quietly part ways with USEF with her with respect to her role with the Dressage Team. If, instead, she wants to 100% support her husband, then they should get a lawyer, and decide as to whether or not they are going to now sue SafeSport, or the complainant who seems to have released details to the reporter with the OC Register. And if Debbie and Bob choose to pursue legal action against SafeSport/the complainant… then USEF really needs to make a public statement on this matter, sooner or later.
I’m curious if anyone else see’s my logic here… or if folks see this mess differently. I really feel badly for Debbie… this is a bad situation to be in. And the SafeSport case was clearly messy, but if Bob’s comments to the reporter are as alleged in the 02/05/21 article… that’s a real problem.
I agree that it appears McDonald has lied, and that the original case was strong.
I have no problem with the complainants coming forward con their sixties. At all. My point was that at that point in terms of life experience, it seems flaky to deliberately come forward and then not be willing to testify at the arbitration. Part of the mess is that they started the big ugly ball tolling, then pulled the rug from under SS. It’s not surprising that they would want to offer an excuse for their about face.
Agreed. I can appreciate that perspective.
It does seem like there was a strong case. I’m baffled by Bob McDonald choosing to comment at all to the reporter. Seriously unwise.
I will only say that I would not dream of calling someone “flaky” after reading that article about her experiences early in life.
If she is able to even get out of bed every day, much less anything else, she is made of very strong stuff, regardless of how much time has elapsed.
I by no means intended to disparage her by repeating that description. And I take her comments about losing faith in the SafeSport process, given some descriptions of how the investigator questioned her, at face value. I can understand backing away from supporting the case when it went to arbitration, if I were in her shoes. But then… it seems she did bring her evidence and details forward again… specifically to Scott Reid - the reporter with the OC Register. And he dug into it all… and here we now are.
So there is a bit of back and forth. But… I can understand how that can happen in situations like this in real life.
I am curious about the officials with SafeSport who decided to “administratively close” this case last year. I believe Michael Henry has since left SafeSport… the current spokesman, Dan Hill, provided some STRONG statements to the reporter that were not favorable to McDonald.
It sure seems like Debbie must have some direct knowledge of the complainant and circumstances of the entire matter. Given all the details the complainant provided to the reporter… there’s no way around it. Unless, the complainant is a crazy teenager stalker from 40 plus years ago, who is resurfacing now to ruin the McDonald’s business (that was what Bob and his lawyer seemed to imply to the reporter… unreal…).
But… it seems to me more plausible that he did have an exploitative relationship with the complainant when she was a teen, that the stories about Rob Gage, Jimmy Williams, and others in recent years reopened old trauma, and she utilized the Safe Sport reporting process. As is her right, and entirely appropriate. But the investigation was a challenging process, and she pulled back. And then the case was administratively closed. And then a bunch of reports went out last year declaring that McDonald was ‘cleared’ and she was left watching it, feeling violated all over again. And so, at a certain point, she decided to speak with a reporter and tell her story.
In all fairness, Athletes for Equity was yammering last year about SafeSport mishandling cases. That was part of their rallying cry that SafeSport needs to be reformed. Soooo… who do they support now? The complainant, or McDonald?
My guess is they support McDonald. All day long. Because that’s what they do. That’s who they are. They only brought up anonymous victims who were frustrated with the SafeSport process in order to discredit SafeSport… not because they actually support real victims. But hey - maybe they will prove us all wrong and make a public statement in support of this person. We will see. Crazier things have happened, I suppose.
OK - one additional data point to add to this story… this is the public statement from Debbie McDonald as of 08/23/20 when the complaint against Bob was administratively closed…
“ Statement from Debbie McDonald
To say the last few months have been challenging would be an understatement. We are relieved and grateful to hear that the lifetime ban against my husband Bob has been lifted and that the case is closed, but we are by no means considering this a celebration. He has never wavered his position on the accusations being false and we are both appreciative of all of our family, friends and supporters who have encouraged us and supported us during this time. From the beginning we cooperated and allowed the process to take place with SafeSport. Bob understood the seriousness of the accusations and that is why we were committed to clearing his name. We do not take any type of abuse lightly. There is nothing worse than having your character, or the character of a loved one questioned. I wanted to personally thank you for your support and kindness towards my family and me. Bob and I are looking forward to putting this behind us and focusing on all the things we love.”
**Sooo… after reading the article from the OC Register, it seems quite clear someone is not being forthright abd accurate with regard to the facts of this situation, abd how this complaint abd investigation unfolded. **
Per the article in the OC Register, Bob McDonald refused to cooperate with the SafeSport investigation, and threatened to sue them in US District Court. Furthermore, as of Feb 5, 2021, according to Dan Hill, the official SafeSport spokesman… McDonald was NOT cleared. Not at all. The complaint was simply administratively closed.
So either the SafeSport documents regarding this investigation and complaint that were provided to the reporter are all messed up, inaccurate, and Bob and Debbie really did cooperate, and on top of that the SafeSport spokesman ‘misspoke’ when he declared that McDonald wasn’t ever actually cleared…
OR
The McDonalds are not telling the truth about how they responded to the investigation and Debbie ‘misspoke’ when she specifically said in this statement that Bob had been cleared.
Meanwhile, from what I can gather, USEF has said nothing publicly about the OC Register article from 02/05/21. I guess they think all the Safe Sport training and town halls are working great, and the little inconsequential people who care about these stories, and the issue of sexual exploitation of athletes by powerful people in sport should just be satisfied with the token measures. I guess they are just hoping that none of us read newspapers, and think critically, and then take note when public statements from key advisers to the US Dressage Team about allegations of serious sexual abuse of minors are at odds with detailed reports published in newspapers, and statements made by the official SafeSport spokesperson.
This is really disappointing… to put it mildly.
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