Boston attorney to challenge Gulati
For several months, Boston attorney Steve Gans has been on a listening tour of sorts in deciding whether to run for the U.S. Soccer Federation presidency. He attended youth soccer's assembly in Dallas this summer, exchanged thoughts with former players and received feedback from those involved in the sport from the under-9 level to MLS.
And he reached the conclusion that he needs to run for a position that Sunil Gulati, a powerful figure in both American and global soccer, has held for 11 years through three elections without a challenger.
“I am going forward,” Gans told The Washington Post on Monday night. “The listening tour absolutely has confirmed that there's a need for this. I've talked to members of all the major constituencies and voting delegates and heard from people that it's time for change.”
Gans, 57, said he plans to soon file paperwork for the election, which will be conducted during the USSF's annual gen- eral meeting Feb. 8-11 in Orlando. Several hundred delegates from the youth, adult and pro sectors, plus an athlete council, will vote.
Gans said he has assembled a steering committee of sports, business and legal professionals and lined up a small group of confidants, including volunteer adviser Scott Ferson, a public relations executive who has worked in Massachusetts political circles for many years.
Gulati, 58, has yet to announce whether he will seek a fourth term, but given his highranking role on the FIFA Council in soccer's international governing body and his position in leading the campaign to bring the World Cup to North America in 2026, many in U.S. circles expect him to run again.
USSF guidelines allow Gulati to seek one more term. He said Tuesday that he did not want to comment on his plans or Gans's decision to enter the race.
A competitive race for the USSF's top position comes at a time of both growth and concern in the domestic game.
The sport has blossomed at the top pro level with MLS in 22 U.S. and Canadian markets and the National Women's Soccer League in its fifth season, longer than two previous female circuits. (Gulati helped launch the NWSL and the USSF administers it.) The second-tier USL boasts 30 teams, while the second-tier NASL struggles with eight.
Under Gulati's stewardship, the USSF entered into a partnership with Mexico and Canada to stage the 2026 men's World Cup. The North American bid is an overwhelming favorite to defeat Morocco next summer for the right to host the sport's quadrennial spectacle here for the first time since 1994.
But Gulati has also come under criticism for Jurgen Klinsmann's reign as men's national team coach. After guiding the Americans to the second round of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Klinsmann stumbled through the 2018 qualifying campaign and, with about two years left on his USSF-record contract, was fired last winter. The USSF owed him a $6.2 million severance. Gans called the payout “a debacle.”