The Optimal Outcome for U.S. Soccer’s Presidential Election

There's a way for all parties involved in U.S. Soccer's election—the federation, its candidates and its constituents—to come away feeling at peace.

On the eve of another U.S. Soccer presidential election, it’s worth thinking about why the two candidates have spent time giving media interviews. 

The USSF is a membership organization. It’s comprised of the professional leagues, all the state associations that govern youth and amateur soccer at the local level, as well as myriad national bodies that represent a range of constituencies, from coaches to disabled athletes. None of that includes the public.

In those interviews, the candidates—the incumbent Cindy Parlow Cone and her challenger and predecessor, Carlos Cordeiro—have been making their case to people who don’t have a vote. The readers get no say. The quadrennial election will be settled Saturday morning at U.S. Soccer’s annual general meeting in Atlanta, where athlete representatives (who get one-third of the vote), members of the pro, youth and amateur councils, board members and a handful of other stakeholders and affiliates will choose a president. All of them had access to Parlow Cone and Cordeiro in recent weeks. They didn’t need to read the Q&As.

But the candidates did them anyway. It represents an acknowledgment from both that this private election has public ramifications. Your average U.S. national team fan, pick-up player or youth soccer parent probably doesn’t know or care who holds the federation presidency. And now that he/she has such little impact on who manages the senior men’s and women’s teams, USSF politics won’t resonate on the scoreboard.

Nevertheless, and because it’s the American steward of the world’s game, what happens at U.S. Soccer resonates. It’s co-hosting a World Cup in four years. It organizes the most visible, influential and successful women’s sports team on the planet. So there are constituencies that care about whether U.S. Soccer is run correctly and ethically, even if they don’t have a vote. And there’s a clear recognition from Parlow Cone and Cordeiro that their race will generate opinion and consequences beyond the USSF door.

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Saturday’s election is about the potential breadth of those consequences. If Parlow Cone wins, it’ll pretty much be business as usual. That may not represent a best-case scenario for everyone—Cordeiro has his supporters—but it’ll create the least amount of upheaval. Those on the outside following the race likely will sigh with relief and move on. The former U.S. international, Women’s World Cup winner and Portland Thorns coach, 43, has had to learn on the job since taking over for Cordeiro two years ago, but she’s learned quickly. 

Parlow Cone helped the federation navigate the pandemic and then emerge with a lot more financial strength than it anticipated. And over the past couple weeks, she earned two significant wins—the eight-year, English language broadcast deal with Turner Sports, and the $24 million equal-pay settlement with the women’s national team.

The former sets U.S. Soccer up to earn more money, something Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs executive, made a priority in his 2018 and ‘22 presidential campaigns. The latter, once it’s accompanied by new labor deals with the men’s and women’s national teams, clears a pathway for peace. That peace, which will replace the years of angst, mistrust and awful publicity that surrounded the WNT’s pursuit of improved pay and working conditions, is priceless. 

Despite setbacks in court, the women had every intention of continuing to pursue their class-action equal pay lawsuit against U.S. Soccer. And they had the public, mainstream media and federation sponsors on their side. It was a bafflingly sexist and stupid court filing that prompted Cordeiro’s 2020 resignation. He said the brief was submitted late and that he didn’t read the offending passages. There’s no reason not to believe him. He trusted federation attorneys and claimed to have had layers of oversight in place. In fact, Parlow Cone, then a VP, was on the legal committee that was supposed to be keeping track of the case. But Cordeiro’s processes failed (Parlow Cone has said she didn’t know about the filing) and he fell on his sword. His resignation was, ironically, a laudable display of leadership. The buck stopped with him. He recognized that U.S. Soccer’s future was more important than maintaining his personal power.

That’s what makes his shocking return so bizarre. Whether or not the filing was his fault, whether or not he could’ve done anything to stop it, they’ll forever be linked. It’s an unfortunate but very real legacy. He left in disgrace, then Parlow Cone, untainted by the scandal, brokered a settlement. That’s the headline. Politics is perception. The federation and its most successful team are on the verge of peace. Now Cordeiro is reversing course, thus making it about him rather than U.S. Soccer. He wants to repair that legacy and clear his name. He wants to fight the war he believes he should’ve waged two years ago. Where resignation was mature, Cordeiro’s new campaign now seems selfish.

The state associations, those mostly volunteer organizations that operate far from the spotlight, are the federation members that coaxed Cordeiro into the race. They’re not focused on national team fans or sponsors. They’ve felt ignored and underappreciated by Parlow Cone, who was overwhelmed by the pandemic and legal crises facing the USSF and has acknowledged she needs to do better forging ties with some constituents. If she wins Saturday, there will be time for that over the next four years. That’s not the high-profile sort of governance that gets scrutinized by the public, but it’s important in a membership organization.

What will generate headlines and blowback is Cordeiro’s potential election. There were five U.S. Soccer sponsors that protested the controversial 2020 legal filing and one of them, Deloitte, sent a statement to Sportico, indicating its preference for staying the course.

“We have appreciated the improved tone and trajectory of this matter under new leadership and our future sponsorship decisions will be contingent on continuity of that progress,” the statement read in part.

Ricardo Fort, the former head of global sponsorship for Coca-Cola (2016-21) and Visa (2012-16), two major USSF sponsors, wrote a post on LinkedIn last month saying that during Cordeiro’s presidency, “U.S. Soccer, historically one of the best partners any brand could have, suddenly became unrecognizable. … The whole experience was a major embarrassment and I can’t think any sponsor would like to go back to those days.”

The U.S. Soccer Foundation, the charitable arm that had never endorsed anyone in a federation election, broke with nearly 30 years of tradition and backed Parlow Cone with its “highest possible endorsement.” She helped resolve an intellectual property dispute between the organizations after taking over from Cordeiro.

“Cindy’s leadership was instrumental in getting the two organizations working together in a harmonious manner—that is what leaders do,” the Foundation wrote.

Then on Friday, the women’s national team made it clear where its preference lies. Thirty-two members of the player pool put their names to a statement that read, "The U.S. Soccer Federation needs a leader who will move our sport forward, not backward. … We respect Cindy's integrity, her passion for the game as a former player and a coach, her pragmatic approach as a business leader, and commitment to its players at all levels from our national teams to the grassroots level.”

It continued, “Importantly, Cindy deeply understands the work that needs to be done to continue to create equality, implement fair structures, improve protections for players of all ages, and break down barriers that exist within our sport and within the U.S. Soccer Federation. Our recent settlement agreement to equalize pay and working conditions between the men's and women's national teams demonstrates her commitment in action.”

Electing Cordeiro will put U.S. Soccer in opposition to that tide, and to the preference for resolution over confrontation. It will anger the women’s national team, sponsors, fans and other stakeholders, It will represent a breach of the nascent peace. That’s a lot of public impact for an election that doesn’t involve the public.

Both candidates will be afforded an opportunity to speak to the electorate for five minutes before votes are cast on Saturday. Cordeiro’s best chance to both bolster his reputation and assist the federation could happen right then and there, if he’s able to summon the same selflessness that prompted his resignation in 2020. 

Loosen up and come clean. Cordeiro could explain exactly what happened with the filing and how it got through, why and how the attorneys took that tack and then apologize sincerely for his role. Perhaps he could make a tangible commitment to supporting women’s soccer or access to the sport for marginalized players. He could forcefully reiterate the words of respect, contrition and unity he has leaned on during the campaign. He could then offer to share his expertise and experience in dealing with FIFA and Concacaf with the next president. Cordeiro still has a voice in the halls of power and is a sounding board for FIFA head Gianni Infantino.

Then he could concede. Step aside. Otherwise, U.S. Soccer risks veering back into the firestorm.