Sunil Gulati (born July 30, 1959) is the current president of the United States Soccer Federation and a member of Economics faculty of Columbia University. He was formerly President of Kraft Soccer for the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer,[1] and is a special advisor to The Kraft Group and the Kraft family[2].
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Elected in March 2006, Gulati is one of the most influential figures in the development of US soccer over the past 30 years.[3] 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.".[4] Gulati served as USSF Vice-President for six years and played a key role in major USSF decisions for many years prior to his election as president. In February 2009, Gulati announced that US Soccer will bid for the right to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022. He chaired the World Cup USA Bid Committee Board of Directors.[5]
In practice, the USSF has a full-time professional staff in Chicago to handle the federation's day-to-day business (in addition to training/development facilities in Florida and California). This provides Gulati with the ability to maintain a parallel, full-time career in academia. He is currently in his second stint as a highly regarded lecturer in economics at Columbia University, having previously served on the Columbia Economics Faculty from 1986 to 1990. At Columbia, Gulati teaches Principles of Economics, Global economics and Sports Economics. Sports economics often heavily over-subscribed, with students known to camp out overnight to secure a place.[6]
Gulati was born in Allahabad, India. His family moved to a small town in Nebraska when he was five years old and he grew up playing soccer. 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. In 1991, he joined the World Bank through its Young Professionals Program and served as Country Economist for Moldova. Gulati, who lives in the New York area, is married to Marcela Gulati and they have one son and one daughter, Emilio Kabir Gulati and Sofia Kiran Gulati.
| Preceded by Dr. S. Robert Contiguglia |
President of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) 2006–present |
Incumbent |
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