NASL Suing U.S. Soccer BOD Over Acting To Protect Personal Interests

The NASL has "further escalated its legal battle" with U.S. Soccer, filing a lawsuit "alleging the directors on the USSF board are acting to protect personal interests," according to Jeff Carlisle of ESPN.com. The suit "alleges that the board members, motivated by conflicts of interest and economic considerations, breached their fiduciary duties to the NASL by 'arbitrarily refusing to sanction the NASL as a Division II league'" for the '18 season. Included among the named defendants are outgoing USSF President Sunil Gulati, VP Carlos Cordeiro, CEO & Secretary General Dan Flynn, and board members Val Ackerman, Carlos Bocanegra, Don Garber, Stephen Malik and Donna Shalala. U.S. Soccer has a contract with Soccer United Marketing to "manage its media rights under a deal" that runs through '22 (ESPN.com, 2/6).