February 11,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Saturday was a big day for the future of American soccer and the United States Soccer Federation. Yesterday the federation selected its next president at its Annual General Meeting in Orlando, bringing an end to an a very public campaign process that has seen a great deal more attention than in past years.
Status Quo candidate Carlos Cordeiro, was elected as the new president of U.S. Soccer on Saturday after three rounds of voting and a historic and contentious eight-candidate campaign.
An unprecedented eight candidates stood for election and none of them are the incumbent Sunil Gulati, who has held the position unopposed since 2006 and declined to run for office.
Less than an hour before the Cordeiro election, fellow candidate Hope Solo blasted the federation for its faults, and criticized two candidates who, in her opinion, were complicit – two candidates who represented the status quo , Carlos Cordeiro and Kathy Carter.
Solo entered the race for United States Soccer Federation president less than a week before the nomination deadline back in December. Throughout the past two months, she has been outspoken in her criticism of the federation and the two establishment candidates.
Among the eight candidates was Ridgewood Resident Michael Winograd . Winograd was considered a blend of previous soccer experience and organizational talents. He played college soccer at Lafayette College and was a pro in Israel. He was also a coach and founder of a short-lived professional franchise, serves on the board of his local soccer organization and has a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
He was not considered as radical as some of the candidates, but he wanted to reform the structure of youth development on a state-by-state basis. He also has a plan for implementing promotion and relegation in American soccer that would also allow current MLS teams to remain in the top flight in perpetuity.
As the Cordeiro victory seemed imminent , Winograd withdrew after the second round as did several others.
Mike’s wife Siobhan Crann Winograd, said in a Facebook post, “Mike did a great job. Ran a honest, sincere, impressive campaign that we are all so proud of. His platform was bold, focused and raised a lot of the key issues ( especially the inequality for women). Without a doubt he was a major influencer.”
