Sunil Gulati

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sunil 'Kumar' Gulati (born July 30, 1959, in Allahabad, India) is the current president of the United States Soccer Federation or USSF and President of Kraft Soccer for the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer.[1] Elected in March 2006, Gulati is one of the most influential figures in the development of US soccer over the past 30 years. Former USSF president and Major League Soccer founder Alan Rothenberg called Gulati "the single most important person in the development of soccer in this country." [2].

Gulati's tenure has started off with turbulence. Gulati has recently been criticized for failing to land former German National Team manager Jürgen Klinsmann as the successor to Bruce Arena after a confusing and lengthy 5-month interview period that left the American national team dormant. On December 7, 2006, Klinsmann withdrew his name from consideration for the US head coaching position. Shortly after, the USSF issued a press release naming Bob Bradley as the interim head coach.

Gulati is an alumnus of Cheshire High School in Cheshire, CT. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bucknell University and earned his M.A. and M.Phil. in Economics at Columbia University. He served on the Columbia Economics Faculty from 1986 to 1990. In 1991, he joined the World Bank through its Young Professionals Program, and served as economic advisor to Moldova.

Gulati is now once again a lecturer in economics at Columbia University, where he teaches introductory economics, microeconomics, and global economy.

Preceded by Dr. S. Robert Contiguglia

President of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) 2006 – present

Incumbent