Trump signs executive order aimed to regulate college sports

Trump

United States President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order aimed at regulating US collegiate sports in the wake of rule changes that allow student athletes to be compensated financially.

The order, which is the second that Trump has issued on college sports, directs the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to create rules that allow college athletes to play for “no more than a five-year period.”

He also asked that rules be put in place that would allow them to transfer schools just once before they graduate without having to sit out a season.

The changes are scheduled to go into effect on August 1, and institutions who allow athletes who don’t meet the criteria risk losing federal funding.

Trump said that the loosening of “consistent rules or limits concerning eligibility, transfers, and pay-for-play schemes has created an out-of-control financial arms race… that is driving universities into debt.”

Friday’s order came as the hugely popular NCAA basketball tournament reached its closing stages.

The women’s semi-finals took place on Friday and the men’s Final Four semi-finals were scheduled for Saturday. Punch