Steve Gans Receives Required Nominations to Run for U.S. Soccer President

A challenger to Sunil Gulati has received the letters of nomination needed to officially run for U.S. Soccer president.

For the first time since 1998, U.S. Soccer will have a contested presidential election. SI.com has learned that Boston lawyer Steve Gans has received the required three letters of nomination that he needs to be an official candidate in the February election.

It’s expected that the incumbent, Sunil Gulati, will run for his fourth term despite the U.S. men’s World Cup qualifying failure. Gulati refused to confirm he would run again in addressing reporters last week, but he did concede that he had reached out to constituents about endorsing him or nominating him in recent weeks. In a blow to democracy, the last four U.S. Soccer presidential elections have had only one candidate. But that will not be the case this time around.