U.S. Soccer Federation Elects Sunil Gulati President

The U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) elected Kraft Soccer President SUNIL GULATI to a four-year term as President, eliminated the exec committee and reduced the BOD from 42 to 15 members, according to Robert Wagman of SOCCERTIMES. Gulati ran without opposition after former USSF President BOB CONTIGUGLIA did not seek re-election. MLS Commissioner DON GARBER, who nominated Gulati, said, “If the history of soccer in this country were written today, there would already be a chapter entitled ‘Gulati.’” Gulati also sits on the boards of MLS, Soccer United Marketing, the U.S. Soccer Foundation and the National Soccer HOF, and was MLS Deputy Commissioner from ’95-99. U.S. Adult Soccer Association President MIKE EDWARDS was appointed to serve the final two years of Gulati’s term as USSF Exec VP (SOCCERTIMES.com, 3/11).

VOICES BE HEARD: In L.A., Grahame Jones writes the USSF “has been loath to speak out on controversial issues in the past” and has “meekly accepted all the corruption that infests FIFA and CONCACAF.” But if the U.S. “is to be taken seriously in international soccer circles, it has to do more than simply win a few games on the playing field. Its voice must be heard. It must speak out, it must lead, it must condemn the unethical and the unscrupulous who are filling their pockets at the expense of the sport.” Gulati has the “opportunity now to set a new course. This is no time to be neutral” (L.A. TIMES, 3/13).