Sunil Gulati Wants to Promote English Soccer More Than American Soccer

Earlier this week, U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati told reporters in England that America is open to the idea of hosting the FA Community Shield, though not necessarily a 39th Premier League match.

We have to follow FIFA guidance, and in the past when countries wanted to play official games in the U.S. we have declined. We have hosted the Italian equivalent of the Community Shield in 1993 and that would be very different to holding a Premier League game. We would consider it.

The FA Community Shield is a preseason match between the Premier League champion and the FA Cup winner from the previous season. It usually signifies the start of the English season and helps raise money for various charities in England.

So here's my question for Mr. Gulati: Why is the U.S. Soccer Federation so keen on promoting a virtual friendly between Manchester United and Portsmouth, yet it won't put any money into the oldest club competition in America?

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is the American equivalent of the FA Cup. It's been running since 1914. The winner gets a bid to the CONCACAF Champions League. The first round of this year's competition begins on June 10. And the U.S. Soccer Federation doesn't want you to know about it.

Seriously, you have to dig through the USSF web site to find any mention of this tournament. It has no sponsor, no television presence -- not until the final airs on Fox Soccer Channel in August, anyway -- and a pitiful prize purse. Seriously, $100,000 to the winner? It's no wonder D.C. United would tank a third-round match against the Harrisburg City Islanders to focus on the $1,000,000 Superliga prize.

Given the history of this competition and the fact that it now plays a role in the new CONCACAF Champions League, why is U.S. Soccer ignoring it? The FA Cup gets far more airtime in this country than the U.S. Open Cup, a competition that is 82 years older than Major League Soccer. Is Gulati afraid of people finding out that there's far more to soccer in America than MLS and the U.S. national teams?

Perhaps I care about the U.S. Open Cup more than most, given that I support a USL club myself -- one that reached the semifinals of the Open Cup last season, I might add. Still, this might be the worst-run soccer competition in the world. Even the widely disrespected cup competitions in Spain and Italy get more publicity than this. When will Gulati and the USSF put the Open Cup in front of soccer fans in this country?