COC president Marcel Aubut steps down during investigation, and that's a rarity in sports

Canadian Olympic Committee president Marcel Aubut is facing serious accusations of sexual harassment from at least three different women, and he's under investigation as a result.

The COC has hired former Quebec Superior Court chief justice Francois Rolland to lead an independent investigation into Aubut's conduct, which isn't unprecedented in situations along these lines. What is more unusual, at least in the sports world, is that Aubut is stepping down from his positions as president of the COC and as chairman of the related Canadian Olympic Foundation for at least the duration of the investigation. It's unclear if that was mandated by the COC or decided on independently by Aubut, but it's a decision that's relatively rare in big-time sports, where many powerful figures have attempted to proceed as if all's normal amidst significant investigations. It's a smart move, and one other organizations should follow. Sadly, many are doing the opposite, allowing the embattled to continue as before while investigations swirl around them.

The biggest case in point is world soccer governing body FIFA, which amidst a remarkable bribery scandal and criminal indictments, has allowed many potentially implicated top executives to continue in their roles. Yes, president Sepp Blatter has said he'll resign once a new president is chosen, but he did that only days after standing for and winning re-election in the middle of the scandal, and the new election is still months away. For now, Blatter's continuing on as head of FIFA and once again refused to step down Friday when major sponsors Coca-Cola and McDonald's called for his resignation.

Earlier this month, the organization eventually got around to suspending secretary-general Jerome Valcke (who's been implicated in various scandals for years, including when a court found he lied during 2006 contract negotiations with Visa and Mastercard, leading to a $60 million fine for FIFA), but that came awfully late. UEFA chairman Michel Platini, who has tried to position himself as a reform-minded rival to Blatter, is now under investigation himself, but he intends to remain as the head of the European confederation and may still run for FIFA president. Simply put, FIFA has been extremely unwilling to suspend anyone no matter the allegations against them, and while that's starting to change thanks to these criminal indictments, many of the key figures accused of corruption are still in powerful roles.

It's not just FIFA, though. The response to troubling accusations against sports players, coaches and administrators has often been to let them continue in their job until the accusations are settled, typically in court. That's created numerous controversies, from the Blackhawks with Patrick Kane to any number of NFL players, including Ray McDonald and Greg Hardy. If anything, that approach is even worse when it comes to management figures than players given the decision-making power they have.

Stepping aside while this investigation is conducted doesn't have to indicate anything about whether Aubut did what his accusers claim he did or not, and it doesn't mean he can't get his job back if the investigation clears him. It simply removes him from the situation for the time being, and that's positive for the COC; a figure under this level of scrutiny shouldn't be involved with the organization or making decisions for it while the investigation is ongoing. Suspensions with pay while investigations are conducted are far from unusual in the rest of the world, but they're not always the norm in sports. Perhaps the Aubut case can help to change that.