36 U.S.C. § 220528 — Applications to replace an incumbent national governing body

(a) An amateur sports organization can try to replace the current national governing body for a sport by filing a written application for certification with the corporation. (b) The corporation must set up procedures for handling these applications. If two or more organizations apply for the same sport, all their applications are considered together in one proceeding. (c) Filing rules: (1) The application must be filed within one year after the last day of (A) the Olympic Games, for a sport that appears in the Olympics, Paralympics, or all four of the Games; or (B) the Pan-American or Parapan American Games, for a sport that appears only in those Games. (2) The application must be sent to the corporation by certified mail, with a copy served on the current national governing body and any other applicant. The corporation must confirm receipt to the applicant. (d) Within 180 days after receiving the application, the corporation must hold a public hearing to weigh its merits. It must publish notice of the hearing's time and place in its main publication, between 30 and 60 days before the hearing, and mail written notice — with a copy of the application — at least 30 days ahead to every amateur sports organization it knows of in that sport. Both the applicant and the current governing body get a fair chance to present evidence. (e) At the hearing, the applicant must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that: (1) it meets the certification criteria in section 220522; and (2) either (A) the current governing body fails to meet the criteria in section 220522, 220524, or 220525, or (B) the applicant meets section 220522's criteria better, can better meet sections 220524 and 220525, and offers (or can offer) a stronger national competition program than the current governing body. (f) Within 30 days after the hearing ends, the corporation must do one of: (1) keep the current governing body in place; (2) revoke its certification and leave the position vacant; (3) revoke its certification and certify the applicant instead; or (4) if the current body would have kept its certification except for one minor shortcoming under section 220522, 220524, or 220525, place it on probation for up to 180 days and tell it what to fix. (g) If the current governing body doesn't fix the problem within that probation period, the corporation must revoke its certification and either (1) certify the applicant, or (2) leave the position vacant.