U.S. Soccer VP Carlos Cordeiro's candidacy for the governing body's President role, or that of anyone already in the race or pondering a challenge, may "soon be overshadowed" by moves inside the USSF BOD to "limit, and possibly even redefine, the power of the presidency," according to Kevin Draper of the N.Y. TIMES. The entry of Cordeiro into an "increasingly crowded field of presidential candidates represents one of the most significant challenges yet" to USSF President Sunil Gulati. Cordeiro's platform "includes a call for increased transparency within U.S. Soccer and a separation between the federation's financial and soccer responsibilities." He was "careful to emphasize that his candidacy was not a rebuke of Gulati personally or of the job Gulati has done over the past decade." But it is "not difficult to see implicit criticism of Gulati in Cordeiro's call for increased transparency, as well as in his belief that the role of president should be more limited." Several members of the USSF BOD have "mounted an effort to ensure that the next president hews more closely to the definition of the role as laid out in the organization's bylaws." It is "unclear how exactly the duties of the position would be circumscribed, or if the board is merely signaling that it plans more rigid limits on the portfolio and authority of the president." But the effect could be that future USSF presidents may find themselves "occupying a significantly less powerful position than the one Gulati currently holds" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/3).
