Sunil Gulati will not resign as U.S. Soccer president
Sunil Gulati is sticking to his agenda.
On Friday, three days after the United States men's national team suffered a humiliating defeat in Trinidad and Tobago that ended its hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, Gulati announced he will not resign as U.S. Soccer's president and refused to rule out running for re-election in February.
"I don't plan to resign ... it's not the right day for me to talk about my personal future plans in terms of the fed presidency," Gulati declared, according to Sports Illustrated's Brian Straus. The president also confirmed he reached out to people in recent weeks about nominating him for re-election.
Gulati, U.S. Soccer's president since 2006, ran unopposed in three campaigns, but that won't be the case in February. Challenging the president will be Steve Gans, founder of Professional Soccer Advisors, and Paul Lapointe, manager of the United Premier Soccer League's Northeast Conference. Eric Wynalda, who played for the USMNT, is also mulling a run. Guidelines stipulate that Gulati is only allowed to serve one more term.
David will Meet Goliath in the months to come. We all know how that story ended.
— Paul Lapointe (@PaulLapointe98) October 13, 2017
Among the criticisms of Gulati are a failure to make needed structural changes, his managerial appointments and the times at which they happen, and a lack of humility given American achievements in football.
Gulati's announcement came after Bruce Arena's resignation as the USMNT's manager. The tactician, who replaced Jurgen Klinsmann, oversaw eight of the Stars and Stripes' games in the Hex, starting with a 6-0 victory over Honduras and ending with a 2-1 loss away to Trinidad and Tobago.