Martin Rogers | USA TODAY Sports

USA TODAY Sports

Kathy Carter, a front-runner for the vacant post of U.S. Soccer president, is set to announce proposals for a wide-ranging commission that would shape the immediate future of the American game.

Isaiah J. Downing, USA TODAY Sports

Carter will formally unveil her blueprint on Thursday morning, and revealed that the plan — if she is elected — will feature Casey Wasserman, chairman of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, as the commission’s leader.

The failure of the United States national team to qualify for this summer’s World Cup sparked a wave of frustration in the soccer community, and was followed by former president Sunil Gulati announcing he would not seek another term.

“I have been encouraged by all the passion and ideas from around the country,” Carter told USA TODAY Sports, in a telephone interview. “But I am concerned about how we get the ideas to marry up together.”

The commission would be entirely independent, with no sitting member of U.S. Soccer’s board or administration permitted to take part. Carter said its structure would borrow heavily from Olympic fact-finding exercises, such as the 1989 Steinbrenner Commission that placed a heavier emphasis on winning medals and a Jerry Colangelo-led group that revitalized USA Basketball following disappointment at the 2004 Games. The group would look at the structure of all levels of the sport, from grass roots soccer to national team performance.

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If Carter wins and the commission is implemented, one challenge will be in pulling together the widely varying opinions on how the game should move forward. She believes Wasserman, who remains CEO of a sports marketing firm bearing his last name, is the right figure to negotiate resolution. His position on the commission would be unpaid.

“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,” Carter added. “That quality is something that will resonate very well in our soccer community.”

Eight candidates are competing to be named president of U.S. Soccer on Feb. 10, with Carter’s main rivals thought to be former U.S. international Eric Wynalda and current U.S. Soccer vice president Carlos Cordeiro.

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