(Reuters) – The governing body of U.S. college sports took sweeping, unprecedented action against Penn State University’s revered football program on Monday in response to a child sex abuse scandal, fining the school $60 million and voiding the team’s victories for the past 14 seasons.
The school was not given the so-called “death penalty” that could have suspended its football program but it was banned from post-season bowl games for four years and had the number of scholarships available to players reduced from 25 to 15.
Penn State officials were accused of not taking action after being alerted to child sex abuse by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The scandal tainted one of college football’s leading coaches, the late Joe Paterno, and led to his firing last year along with other top school officials.
The punishment, announced by the National College Athletic Association at a news conference in Indianapolis, was unprecedented for its swiftness and breadth. It was the latest body blow to an institution still reeling from the child molestation conviction last month of Sandusky, who was a long-time assistant coach under Paterno.
In a scathing rebuke of Penn State administrators, NCAA President Mark Emmert said the school had put “hero worship and winning at all costs” ahead of integrity, honesty and responsibility.
The case was another blotch on the diminishing legacy of Paterno, who until Monday’s action had held the record for victories among big-time U.S. college football coaches in a career that spanned more than 40 seasons. Paterno lost that status since the NCAA’s punishment includes voiding the Nittany Lions’ victories between 1998 and 2011 – the time period covering when allegations against Sandusky were first made and Sandusk y’s arrest.
Emmert said the NCAA chose not to levy the so-called “death penalty” because it would have harmed individuals with no role in the Sandusky scandal.
Later on Monday, The Big Ten Conference of college sports announced Penn State would forfeit its share of revenues for bowl games organized by the league, and the estimated $13 million would instead be donated to charities devoted to the protection of children.
