USSF BOD Meeting

U.S. SOCCER BOARD OF DIRECTORS HOLDS SECOND MEETING OF 2022 

Down Syndrome Sports Association Approved for Provisional Membership; 

Board Approves and Adopts Policy 521-2 Prohibiting  
Discriminatory Chants at International Matches Sanctioned by U.S. Soccer 

CHICAGO (May 19, 2022) – The U.S. Soccer Board of Directors conducted its second quarterly meeting of the year on Friday. The hybrid meeting was held in-person and virtually from Dallas, Texas, and also streamed live to the general public.  

During the public meeting, the Board approved the Down Syndrome Sports Association for provisional membership to be a Disabled Service Organization Member of U.S. Soccer and adopted policy 521-2 which prohibits discriminatory chants at international matches sanctioned by the Federation.  

During a discussion on a gender equity proposal from the last board meeting, the Board voted to add language specific to gender to the 2014 resolution regarding the hiring process of minority candidates for each open senior executive, full-time head coach and full-time assistant coach position. The proposal, presented by Board member John Collins, is focused on increasing female coaches within the coaching staffs for all National Teams. U.S. Soccer CEO/Secretary General Will Wilson provided an update on the plan being put together to address the proposal, providing insight on the process completed to date and outlined a specific timeline on when the plan will be delivered to the Board.  

Finally, the Board approved the Board Committee and Standing Committees.   

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

• U.S. Soccer Chief Financial Officer Pinky Raina also included an update on U.S. Soccer’s current financials.  
• Board member Juan Uro provided an update on the work of the Governance Task Force, which is looking at the size of the U.S. Soccer Board.  
• U.S. Soccer Chief People and Diversity Officer Ann Seeney provided an update on the Federation’s efforts on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.  
• U.S. Soccer’s Senior Counsel Alison Kocoras provided an update on Safesport reporting requirements. She also provided an update on the Universal Background Check Taskforce which is discussing current member practices and whether to recommend a uniform standard. Their next meeting is in June.  
• U.S. Soccer General Counsel Greg Fike and Board Member, Michael Karon provided an update on the International Games Fee Task Force, which is discussing how to distribute international games fees more evenly amongst the membership. The Taskforce plans to make a proposal for consideration by the Board in August.  
• Board member Patti Hart provided an update on the work of the Nominating and Governance Committee which is focused on improving governance and board meeting logistics.  
• Wilson provided an update on the Board’s off-site meeting, which will be from June 9-11 in Austin.  

The next scheduled Board of Directors meeting will be on August 24-25 in Chicago