Officials around council table beneath flags; text reads “Unified Soccer Governance Council,” “One Game, One Voice,” “Global Partnership,” and “Football Unity.”

Part One – Unified Governance and Structure

Secure unified agreement and governance framework
- MLS (30 clubs), USL Championship (~24–25 clubs), USL League One (~14–18 clubs), lower USL/NISA/other Tier 3–4 sides, U.S. Soccer, the 54 state associations, major youth governing bodies (US Youth Soccer, ECNL, Girls Academy, MLS NEXT, etc.), and the key academy operators must all formally agree to a joint professional + youth pyramid.
  - Would mean the dissolution of Major League Soccer, United Soccer Leagues, and other league entities.
- Every single club owner, investor group, and board must sign the same framework agreement.
  - 30 MLS Clubs become single “entities”, as do the 50+ USL Clubs.
- Any one holdout (a high-value MLS franchise, a state association, or a major youth multi-club operator) are disassociated from the US Soccer Federation and are truly independent.
  - If professional, no access to national team pathways
  - Youth clubs are excluded from state league and competition.
- Lawyers for 70+ professional entities plus dozens of youth organizations must negotiate the same document language at the same time.
  - For Youth soccer primary objective to ratify single league model within each state at the youth level with promotion and relegation.
  - Professional and semi-professional teams carve out a national pyramid based on sporting merit, per FIFA mandate.
    - Lack of compliance forfeits participation in competition, participation in national teams, and any post season competition
    - Players not part of player pool for national team call up.
- Parallel side letters, carve-outs, and “most-favored-nation” clauses will proliferate before the main agreement is even finished.
  - These cannot be accepted.
Create a high-level governing structure with independent oversight
- Standing committees for –
  - Participation Rules
  - Financial Requirements
  - Licensing Rights
  - Disciplinary
  - Youth Participation Rules and Financial Requirements
  - Youth Pathway
  - Commercial rights.
- Independent directors appointed by both MLS and USL owners and lower-division clubs.
- A mechanism to break deadlocks when an entity and the rest of the pyramid disagree on revenue, calendar, or player movement.
- Clear escalation path when state associations are misaligned with the youth model the national body has approved.