The North American Soccer League continues to decry corruption from the United States Soccer Federation, putting more pressure on the federationโs establishment ahead of a massive presidential election next week.
The NASL announced a lawsuit against the USSF board members on Tuesday in a blazing 69-page document, accusing the board of a โbreach of the directorsโ fiduciary duties to the USSFโs members.โ It flies in similar circles as Hope Soloโs brazen weekend complaint.
The lawsuit also demands thatย U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati, MLS commissioner Don Garber, and โany additional Defendants identified during fact discoveryโ cannot be reimbursed by the USSF for damages or defense costs.
Saying the directors โhave abused their positions as governors and stewardsโ for the development of soccer in the U.S. by protecting the interests of Major League Soccer, the United Soccer League, and Soccer United Marketing.
The league also asserts that the USSF board has consistently interfered with the NASLโs business practices, allowing the USL to operate as a D-II league under a plan to one day reach a D-II standard while refusing the same to NASL.
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It also claims that the vote on divisional sanctioning had a โpreordainedโ result and hurriedly organized by Gulati without proper information for the board members and without all members at the meeting.
The suit tears into the much-maligned MLS-SUM relationship.
โNotably, the Board has allowed SUM to use the USSFโs most valuable assets โ rights in the FIFA World Cup and U.S. national teamsโย television broadcasts and ticket sales โ to enrich and empower MLS to the competitive disadvantage of rival leagues, as well as depriving other USSF member groups of potential funding.โ
All but one board member, John Paul Motta, was named in the suit: Gulati, Garber, presidential candidate Carlos Cordeiro, and USMNT legend Carlos Bocanegra are the names most know, while Stephen Malik, John Collins, Donna Shalala, Valerie Ackerman, Daniel Flynn, Lisa Carnoy, Richard Moeller, Jesse Harrell, Timothy Turney, Christopher Ahrens, and Angela Hucles are less familiar.
Exhale.
The league, which had stood as U.S. Soccerโs lone second-tier organization for some time, has been battling the USSF since the federation took away its Division II status.
Whatโs wild about the entire ordeal is that the publicโs interest has certainly paid extra attention to the NASLโs concerns since Bruce Arena and the USMNT bombed out of World Cup qualifying. The federation has little momentum โ but plenty of influence and money โ to fight back, and relatively small stories like complaints about the bizarre and unorthodox MLS transfer system have become big anchors for those seeking change in the federation (In this vein, weย imagine Gulati and the federation might be agreeing with Geoff Cameronโs vibes right about now).
