Exclusive Interview: Sunil Gulati, President of US Soccer Federation

Parallels can be drawn between the state of Football(Soccer) between India and the USA. Like in India, football is not the preferred sport for the Americans. Basketball, Baseball and of course, “American Football” draw the biggest crowds in the US. Despite this, the Americans have done pretty well in the beautiful game.

American professionals like Clint Dempsey have made a name for themselves across the Atlantic. The national team itself has done pretty well at the International stage, the most recent success being the victory over the Italians. So what is the US Soccer Association doing right? Here are excerpts from an exclusive interview with Sunil Gulati, the president of the US Soccer Association. Mr. Gulati is also a Lecturer in Discipline in Economics at Columbia University, New York and I also asked him his opinions about the influence of big money in the game.

How do you create interest in a country like America, where it is not the most popular sport?

Well first I am not sure the premise is right that soccer is not a popular sport in the US, it is a very popular sport in the US, it doesn’t have the same spectator support as it does in some other countries at the professional level, but in terms of registered players, there are millions of kids registered, more than any other country in the world and the spectator interest is increasing pretty dramatically over period of time. We now have the No. 1 rights payment in the world for the WC, in the Spanish and English languages. So its growing rapidly, but its a crowded landscape in the US, football and baseball are dominating the viewership, but we are making a lot of progress and one doesn’t have to displace any of the other sports, we can add to it for a country of the size of the US.

For India, I think its a different set of circumstances, though you are right about the parallel of Cricket being number one, and soccer trying to gain a foothold, but I think the circumstances of the 2 countries are very different, although I think the Indian federation and some its partners, IMG and others are starting to make some inroads there. In the long term its about dev players, getting better players, getting fan interest. You know , what the IPL did overnight in cricket is pretty extraordinary.

So what do you think has a major role in development, is it top down or bottom up?

I think its probably a combination of the two. I dont think they could have had the success in IPL if they had created it of nowhere, without the grassroots support that already existed in the country.

India has tried a foreign coach and now you have gone with Jurgen Klinsmann, how important is a coach for the national team?

Well, I am not sure that’s the critical issue. I know Bobby Houghton, he coached in the US. I don’t think that’s the difference maker. Whether it’s a foreign coach or a domestic coach, he should understand what it takes to get the job done. In Jurgen Klinsmann’s case..he has lived here for 15 years, he is an accomplished player and coach and certainly, speaking the language was not an issue.Our circumstances are different than India, which is a vast country with a variety of cultures and languages. So I don’t think it’s an issue of whether it is a domestic or foreign coach.

Is there a particular philosophy that you define for a national team, like Barcelona play passing football, Spain too, has the US decided that it wants to go a certain way?

No…I will be happy to play like Barcelona, so would everyone else in the world, but that’s much easier said than done. I think you are starting to see the development of an American style, which is an amalgamation of styles from all over the world, because we are an immigrant country, we have got a large and growing Hispanic population, and so we have firm European roots and there are plenty of immigrant players in our youth teams. Also a growing number of African American players…so it will be a unique style, we dont have Xavi or Messi in our midfield so we cannot play like that, you need magicians to put on a magic show!

In MLS you have a cap on the number of foreign players in the team, is it beneficial for the national team?

It’s a big discussion, arguments can be made both ways, one can argue that by more international players, American players will develop more quickly and become better players, but if there aren’t any on the field, then its harder. Having no limits on international players, in the absence on any constraints on compensation, would lead to strange results. We have got both of those, and I think we have a pretty good balance.

Moving to Economics, we have seen the emergence of clubs like Man City who with their money are aiming to dominate football, do you think that this is the future of football?

No, it is not going to be that way. Certainly Europe , with the new rules about Financial Fair Play, the UEFA is trying to make sure that clubs do not spend more than they earn. It is not so much a question of creating parity among clubs, but making sure that clubs remain solvent. Of course there are challenges, like keeping some transactions at arms length.

All American sports have rules that promote parity, that dont allow unbridled expenditure by any one club.

What do you think about the Arsenal approach to finances?

Well, I cant say anything bad about Arsenal, the Chief Executive (Ivan Gazidis) is a very dear friend and we have worked together and even prior to Ivan Gazidis being there, Arsenal has been a model club, very well run, financially viable…some of the fans may be frustrated that they don’t spend enough to buy expensive players, but I think they have a very sustainable economic model.

With that, I concluded the interview. It was interesting that Mr. Gulati didn’t attach much importance to a coach’s nationality, something that is a hotly debated topic in Indian football and other sports as well. Also, he stressed the importance of having a footballing philosophy that comes naturally to a team. Imposing long ball tactics on Indian players, who are not the tallest, might not be a good strategy.

As for the spending vs sustainability debate in Europe, this Economics professor agrees with Le Professeur in North London. Despite the danger of underhanded deals like the shady sponsorship deals agreed by Man City, Mr. Gulati expressed confidence in UEFA’s ability to effectively enforce the Financial Fair Play regulations. One hopes that he is right, for the sake of the beautiful game.

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