U.S. Soccer Board of Directors Holds Third Meeting of 2021 in Chicago

CHICAGO (Aug. 27, 2020) – The U.S. Soccer Board of Directors conducted its quarterly meeting Friday, which was held partly in-person in Chicago and partly virtually due to ongoing COVID-19 protocols.

The third of four Board of Directors Meetings in 2021 was highlighted by an update on the progress by the 33-Member Governance Task Force, which was created to examine the new requirements related to athlete representation and governance moving forward. An update from the Task Force’s first meeting was provided, and the agenda for the meeting for tomorrow (Aug. 28) was shared. The Extraordinary National Council Meeting is set to take place on Oct. 23, 2021 in Miami.

The key dates for the 2022 Presidential Election, which will be held at the National Council Meeting on March 5 during the 2022 Annual General Meeting, were presented. The deadline for all individuals to submit their three declarations of support to be considered as official candidate is January 4, 2022.

Below are other topics that were discussed by the Board in the public and executive sessions:

• Director of Extended National Teams Jim Moorhouse provided an update on the Women’s Beach National Team’s programming in Russia, and the Men’s Beach National Team’s performance in the FIFA Beach World Cup, which was also held in Russia this month. He also provided an update on the Men’s Futsal National Team’s final preparations in advance of the FIFA Futsal World Cup in September, and upcoming programming for the Women’s Para National Team and Men’s Para-7-a-Side National Team.

• Sporting Director Earnie Stewart, USWNT General Manager Kate Markgraf and USMNT General Manager Brian McBride provided a recap on the senior National Team’s performances this summer and their upcoming schedule.

• Chief Financial Officer Pinky Raina provided an update on U.S. Soccer’s Day of Service, which took place in August. This was the first year the program was conducted and staff participated in Chicago, Kansas City and Carson, Calif.

• The board adopted changes to the Safe Soccer Framework, which were proposed to ensure that U.S. Soccer’s SafeSport policies comply with the Center for SafeSport’s new Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies, scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2022.

The next scheduled Board of Directors meeting will be Dec. 2 and 3, 2021.