By Amy Tennery
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell backed embattled New Orleans Saints leaders on Monday, after a report said top team officials had played a significant part in aiding city Catholic leaders in the fallout from the church’s sexual abuse scandal.
An Associated Press report found email evidence that the team had organized a “monthslong, crisis-communications blitz” to help mitigate the fallout over a yearlong period ending July 2019.
Asked whether the league planned to investigate the findings, Goodell said it was a matter for the FBI and showed support for team owner Gayle Benson, who took over when her husband, Tom Benson, died in 2018.
“Mrs. Benson and the Saints are very involved in this community and they are great corporate citizens,” Goodell told reporters. “Mrs. Benson takes all of these matters seriously.”
The Saints told the Associated Press that “no member of the Saints organization condones or wants to cover up the abuse that occurred in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.”
The report put a harsh spotlight on the team just days before their home stadium, Caesars Superdome, is set to host the Super Bowl on Sunday after a massive, $560 million renovation.
Goodell, speaking to reporters from the stadium, said that he believed both local and national law enforcement were involved.
“I’m confident that they are playing nothing more than a supportive role,” said Goodell.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New Orleans)
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