The Eight Candidates Who Want To Be President of U.S. Soccer …

The official slate of candidates to stand for election as President of the U.S. Soccer Federation has been confirmed today by the Nominating and Governance Committee of U.S. Soccer.

A total of eight candidates have met the requirements to stand for election. The election will take place during U.S. Soccer’s National Council Meeting on February 10, 2018 in Orlando.

2018 U.S. Soccer Presidential Candidates

Paul Caligiuri, Kathy Carter, Carlos Cordeiro, Steve Gans, Kyle Martino, Hope Solo, Michael Winograd, Eric Wynalda — listed alphabetically.

To be placed on the ballot for the upcoming election at the U.S. Soccer AGM in Orlando, candidates were required to:

• Complete a background check
• Submit at least three (3) letters of nomination on official letterhead from Organization Members (as defined in Bylaw 302) and/or one of three Athlete Members of the Board of Directors

Candidates for U.S. Soccer President Bio

Complete bio information submitted by the candidates can be found at U.S. Soccer’s website here.

Below are highlights:

PAUL CALIGIURI

World class player, Paul Caligiuri is the player who earned the USA the chance to get back into the FIFA World Cup after decades.  Cited by U.S. Soccer as one of the most important moments in our history, Caligiuri has been a champion of the game of soccer in America.

Official bio to be uploaded when available.

KATHY CARTER

Kathy Carter’s entire professional career has been in service of growing the sport of soccer in the U.S. While building her career as a successful soccer industry executive, Carter never stopped playing the game she grew up loving.

Carter was most recently the President of Soccer United Marketing (SUM), a position with responsibility for leading more than 100 employees, and managing the business operations for Major League Soccer’s (MLS) commercial subsidiary.

After the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Carter was a founding member of MLS, and then Vice President of Corporate Marketing for MLS from the league’s inception until 1999.

Carter has also helped develop women’s soccer at the international level in her prior capacity as the U.S. representative on FIFA’s Committee for Women’s Football and the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

CARLOS CORDEIRO

A life-long soccer fan, Carlos Cordeiro has served as an unpaid volunteer to USSF for the past 10 years.  As Vice President since 2016, he has worked to reform Board governance with a focus on greater transparency and accountability.  He has also served as Treasurer, Chair of the Budget Committee, Director of the U.S. Soccer Foundation and the Federation’s first Independent Director.  In addition, he represents U.S. Soccer on the CONCACAF Council and FIFA’s Stakeholders Committee.

A business executive with more than 30 years of experience in international finance, he became a partner at Goldman Sachs in the early 1990s and was later appointed Vice Chairman-Asia.

He is a graduate of Miami Beach High School, Harvard College and Harvard Business School. A dedicated philanthropist, he has supported nonprofit causes that reflect his commitment to education and healthcare and has held director-level positions at several charitable foundations.

STEVE GANS

Steve Gans is a partner in the Boston law firm Prince Lobel Tye LLP, focusing on business, sports and employment law. Steve is also a principal of Professional Soccer Advisors, an international soccer consulting agency. For 18 years Steve helped lead a diversified independent book and publishing company, as an executive (President, CEO and/or COO) and General Counsel.  Steve attended Cornell University and Brandeis University (B.A.), as well as Harvard Law School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D.).  Steve is rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest possible ranking for both legal ability and ethical standards.

Steve is the only candidate in the Presidential race who combines deep and continuous soccer experience with extensive organizational leadership and business experience.  Steve’s Platform is one of Leadership, Reform, and Fairness: www.stevegans2018.com.

KYLE MARTINO

Kyle Martino has played at all levels of U.S. Soccer—from youth, to college, to MLS and the USMNT, to a local adult league today. He was named Gatorade National Player of the Year in 1999 and played college soccer at the University of Virginia. After joining the Columbus Crew in 2002, he was named MLS Rookie of the Year. He has been a studio analyst and color commentator on MLS for Fox, ESPN, and is currently on hiatus from NBC where he is the sole American voice covering the English Premier League.

Kyle’s candidacy is focused on three pillars that support a path forward for US Soccer: Transparency, Equality, and Progress. He believes that path can be paved by integrating the 55 associations to empower the membership to collaborate on holistic solutions.

He is the only candidate who has staked his candidacy on his ability to deliver results, pledging to step down if the U.S. Men’s and Women’s teams fail to meet certain milestones in the years ahead.

HOPE SOLO

A World Cup Champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and winner of the 2011 and 2015 FIFA World Cup Golden Glove awards, Hope Solo is widely regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world. She has more caps, wins, shutouts and starts than any other goalkeeper in U.S. history.  In 2015, she achieved her lifelong dream as a player, delivering the USWNT its first World Cup title since 1999.

Solo is recognized as a leader in the fight for equal pay and in 2016, was one of five members of the USWNT to file a wage discrimination claim against the Federation. She has been an influential voice on and off the field, sharing the stage with U.S. senators, heads of state, business leaders and global activists from around the world advocating for women’s rights and gender equality.

MICHAEL WINOGRAD

Michael Winograd has the experience and skillset to bridge the soccer and business sides, bring parties together, and lead U.S. Soccer into its critical next phase of growth.

Winograd played Division I college soccer at Lafayette College and professionally in Israel. In 2005, he was a member of the silver medal U.S. Maccabiah Masters soccer team.

Since 2009, Winograd has served on the Board of his town’s soccer organization. He serves on his town’s Parks and Recreation Committee and has had the pleasure of coaching his children, who are now USSDA and developmental players.

Winograd graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2000 and since then has been a practicing attorney in New York City at some of the nation’s finest corporate law firms, including, for the past six years, Ropes & Gray LLP. Since 2003, Winograd has been an adjunct law professor at Fordham University Law School.

ERIC WYNALDA

Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda is one of the most iconic figures in American soccer. A three-time World Cup veteran, Wynalda has 106 caps and is fourth on the all-time scoring list for the US Men’s National Team with 34 goals.

He was the first American player to break into the prestigious German Bundesliga and first to captain a European club. Named Honda Player of the Decade for the 1990s, he scored the inaugural goal for Major League Soccer.

Wynalda has coached at almost every level from youth to amateur to professional.

Wynalda is also responsible for three of the biggest upsets in U.S. Open Cup history: first in 2012 when he led the amateur Cal FC to a 1-0 victory over MLS Portland Timbers. Again in 2014 when the second division Silverbacks defeated MLS’ Real Salt Lake and Colorado Rapids.

Since 2002, Wynalda has worked as a television analyst covering every major domestic and international soccer event for both ESPN and Fox. He also hosted WTF: Wynalda Talks Football on Sirius XM.

The U.S. Soccer presidential election is determined by a vote by those groups who hold voting rights.

How the Vote Works: 

• Youth Council: 25.8% – The Youth Council includes US Youth, US Club, AYSO, SAY
• Adult Council: 25.8% – The Adult Council includes USASA state associations and leagues
• Professional Council: 25.8% – The Professional Council includes MLS, NWSL, USL, and still the NASL
• Athletes Council: 20% – The Athletes Council includes elected athlete representatives including Nick Perera, Carlos Bocanegra, Angela Hucles, Heather O’Reilly, Lindsay Tarpley, Leslie Osborne, Brian Ching among others
• And there is the Miscellaneous percentage of the vote held by Life Members among others: 2.6%

The idea behind this voting structure at U.S. Soccer is to ensure a balanced vote with all groups and interested represented and reflecting the final decision.  As you know, U.S. Soccer is a non-profit organization and the governing body of soccer in all its forms in the United States.

The last vote — which was for U.S. Soccer’s position of Vice President was filled with tense moments and last minute conversations attempting to sway votes. The upcoming meeting will be more momentous and exciting and yet while the position is extremely prestigious and critical at this time, one can only wonder how much power the role of the president really has.

Good luck to all the candidates.