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ESPN staff 6y

Candidate Kathy Carter proposes review of U.S. Soccer's future

U.S. Soccer presidential candidate Kathy Carter has proposed a commission to look at the future of the game in America after the nation's failure to qualify for the World Cup.

Carter announced that, if she wins the federation's presidential election next month, she will set up an independent commission led by 2028 Los Angeles Olympics chair Casey Wasserman.

The commission would not include any sitting member of the U.S. Soccer board and would make recommendations on needed changes ranging from the grassroots game to the national team.

A statement said the commission's goal would be "to determine what factors impede our country from developing world-class players more consistently and teams that succeed in international competitions."

Carter's team said it will be modeled on previous Olympics commissions that analysed poor U.S. results at the 1972 Summer Games and 1988 Winter Games, as well as the path to changes taken by USA Basketball after the men failed to win the gold medal in 2004.

"I have been encouraged by all the passion and ideas from around the country, but I am concerned about how we get the ideas to marry up together," Carter told USA Today.

"Casey has a great level of diplomacy and many people have suggested that his ability to communicate has been a big part of his success with the L.A. bid. That quality is something that will resonate very well in our soccer community."

Carter is one of eight candidates looking to replace Sunil Gulati as U.S. Soccer president at the Feb. 10 election.  Gulati will not seek another term following the U.S.'s failure to reach Russia 2018.

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