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Not content with occupying a building that looks like the setting for a Dickensian tale about the mistreatment of impoverished children...
Welcome to Soccer House. #USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter hitting the ground running in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/AHMPHmWGJu
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) December 5, 2018
...nor satisfied with nurturing accusations of negligence and nepotism for spending more than a year dawdling over the decision to appoint the brother of one its top executives to the position of head coach of the men’s national team...
USSF COO Jay Berhalter was involved in the hiring of GM Earnie Stewart.
— herculez gomez (@herculezg) December 3, 2018
Stewart hired HC Gregg Berhalter.
USSF CEO Dan Flynn is retiring.
Jay Berhalter is rumored to replace Flynn. @CACSoccer has his first major bullet. #USMNT #FlawedProcess https://t.co/t5Wl3ovN31
...US Soccer has brought fresh material to its ongoing effort to transform itself from bland sports administrator to pantomime villain: Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl has revealed USSF is being sued by...um...USSF.
Today we filed a lawsuit against the USSF to defend our brand and mission in order to preserve the important work we've done for more than 25 years for children living in underserved communities across America. More info at https://t.co/481DROFsXL
— US Soccer Foundation (@ussoccerfndn) December 6, 2018
The USSF doing the suing in this instance is the US Soccer Foundation - a 25-year-old charity that focuses on making soccer more accessible to kids, particularly those from low-income and impoverished families.
As Ed Foster-Simeon - Charity USSF’s president and CEO - told Wahl: “We’re talking 90% of the kids that we’re reaching are on free and reduced school lunch, which is a key indicator of poverty.”
Sounds like good work. Why sue the other USSF - the US Soccer Federation? Because US Soccer has allegedly been trying to bully Charity USSF out of its name and trademarks. Despite - per Foster-Simeon - using the activities of the charity as part of its successful pitch to FIFA to host the 2026 World Cup, US Soccer has decided there’s only room for one USSF in the American soccer landscape. Charity USSF is suing to protect itself, seeking a ruling that states it does indeed have right and proper ownership of the name “US Soccer Foundation” and associated brand collateral.
It is not a good look for US Soccer, but if US Soccer cared about looking good it wouldn’t have bungled the optics on the one big hiring decision it needed to make this year.