Sunil Gulati’s role as a U.S. Soccer power broker has outlasted three U.S. Presidents. During his reign as President of the Federation, the performance of the U.S. Men’s National Team has fallen to its lowest point in 30 years. The responsibility for the American men’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and the last two Olympic Games must land at Mr. Gulati’s feet.
In a similar situation, the French team's performance at the 2010 World Cup which was widely perceived as a “fiasco,” the President of the French Football Federation, Jean-Pierre Escalettes, not only accepted responsibility but also recognized that the failure created a “duty to resign from my role as President of the French Football Federation.”
By refusing to definitively address his future plans, Mr. Gulati is putting self-preservation ahead of his duty to our Federation. His public acknowledgement of shared responsibility for the National Team’s disastrous failure to qualify is meaningless unless there is a personal consequence to him reflective of the seriousness of the debacle he presided over. Coach Arena took a harder, but much more honorable route. Mr. Gulati should do what is necessary and appropriate: resign. Not only would that be the right thing to do, it would also allow new leadership to begin fixing the systemic problems that plague the beautiful game played and followed by tens of millions of Americans.
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