Eric Wynalda joins U.S. Soccer presidential race
Former United States men’s national team striker Eric Wynalda has confirmed that he will run for U.S. Soccer Federation president.
Wynalda had been thinking about running against incumbent Sunil Gulati for a while, and told Soccer America’s Paul Kennedy on Friday that he will indeed join the race.
Eric Wynalda is running for U.S. Soccer president and very encouraged by support he's received from members. "They want change." 1/
— Paul Kennedy (@pkedit) October 21, 2017
Wynalda joins a race that officially includes Boston attorney Steve Gans, is expected to include Gulati, and could include Paul Lapointe, who has announced his intention to run. Landon Donovan is also reportedly considering a run.
Wynalda will need to receive three nominations between now and early December to get his name on the ballot. Gans has already received three, and Gulati surely will if and when he announces that he will run for re-election.
Wynalda, Gans and Gulati are all in Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, this weekend at the U.S. Adult Soccer Association’s mid-year meeting. On Saturday, they’ll address members of the organization, which holds 25.8 percent of the vote in February’s U.S. Soccer election.
Wynalda has never been afraid to ruffle feathers and challenge the establishment. He told Kennedy on Friday that, if elected, he would fix the pro game and introduce equal pay for the men’s and women’s national teams. “I will tear up the deal,” he said of the current agreement between the federation and the women’s national team.
Wynalda appeared 106 times for the U.S. national team, and scored 34 goals. He played for seven different American clubs and two different German ones during his career. After retiring as a player, he has held coaching and executive roles with lower-division American clubs. He also works as a television analyst for Fox Sports.
The election will be held at U.S. Soccer’s 2018 annual general meeting, February 8-11 in Orlando.
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Henry Bushnell covers soccer – the U.S. national teams, the Premier League, and much, much more – for FC Yahoo and Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Question? Comment? Email him at henrydbushnell@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @HenryBushnell.
