Latest news with #UnitedStatesSoccerFederation
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Donald Trump Taps Rudy Giuliani's Son For Top Sports Gig
President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced Andrew Giuliani, the son of his top ally Rudy Giuliani, will serve as executive director of his task force on the 2026 FIFA World Cup. During a meeting with the group hosted at the White House, Trump praised Giuliani, claiming he is very much qualified for his new role. 'He's going to be great. I've known him for a long time. He's a highly competitive golfer, which I mean, really good, and he's also a highly competitive person and he loves what we're doing,' Trump said. The president also made sure to reference the elder Giuliani, his ex-personal lawyer and former New York City mayor, who faced legal trouble over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election for Trump. 'I want to congratulate you and your family and your father, your great father, who's the greatest mayor in the history of New York,' Trump said. 'It's a big post. You better do well, Andrew,' he added. Trump also named FIFA adviser and former president of the United States Soccer Federation Carlos Cordeiro as a senior adviser to the task force. Giuliani previously served as a special assistant to Trump and associate director of the Office of Public Liaison during Trump's first term in office. He also ran for New York governor in 2022 but finished second behind then-Rep. Lee Zeldin in the GOP primary. In a post on his account on X, formerly Twitter, Giuliani said he was 'honored' to get this new assignment, adding that he looks forward to working on 'the safest and most successful World Cup in history.' The U.S. will jointly host the event with Mexico and Canada. The tournament is expected to draw over 5 million fans from all over the world in total, according to FIFA. Yet, Vice President JD Vance joked about potentially deporting the tourists traveling to the U.S. for the occasion. 'We'll have visitors from close to 100 countries. We want them to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the game,' Vance said. 'But when the time is up, they'll have to go home, otherwise they'll have to talk to [Homeland Security] Secretary Noem.' Meanwhile, Trump appeared to be unaware of Russia's disqualification from the event as a result of global sporting sanctions imposed on Moscow following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 'I didn't know that. Is that right?' Trump asked. Related...
Epoch Times
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Trump Appoints Rudy Giuliani's Son to Lead 2026 FIFA World Cup Task Force
President Donald Trump announced on May 6 that he has appointed Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, as executive director of the president's task force on the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The president also announced that Carlos Cordeiro will serve as a senior adviser to the task force. He is currently a senior adviser to FIFA and was president of the United States Soccer Federation, where he played a major role in securing the United States as a host of the 2026 tournament alongside Canada and Mexico. 'I know Andrew and Carlos will work tirelessly to make the 2026 FIFA World Cup an unprecedented success,' Trump Trump's announcement was made as he convened the first task force meeting at the White House. Vice President JD Vance, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and FBI Director Kash Patel were also present. Vance is the vice chair of the task force. 'This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase the beauty and the greatness of America, and we can't wait to welcome soccer fans from all over the globe,' Trump said, noting that his son, Barron Trump, is a fan of and plays the sport. The president said that his administration 'will be working to ensure that these events are safe and successful, and those traveling to America to watch the competition have a seamless experience during every part of their visit.' Related Stories 3/26/2025 3/7/2025 The United States will host 78 of the 104 games in the World Cup, said Infantino. There will be 11 U.S. cities hosting the games including Miami, Boston, Kansas City, Philadelphia, and Seattle. The championship game will be at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 'Soccer is a sport of incredible grace and finesse and beauty,' said Vance. 'These are three things that have nothing to do with politics, and so we're thrilled to have the FIFA World Cup in the United States of America,' he continued. 'I think that you'll see the very best of the United States of America, both in athletic competition, but also in hospitality, something our boss knows quite a bit about.' Noem pledged to ensure that the World Cup is safe and secure, though she acknowledged it will be a challenge. Duffy said he will work to ensure the airspace around the games is secure.
Business Insider
05-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
I retired 22 years ago with no savings plan, but now have $1.3 million. Stressing about retirement isn't worth it.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Rich Colorado, 87, who retired on his 65th birthday. Colorado said he never touched stocks and never planned for his retirement, yet he remained frugal and now has over $1.3 million. Colorado still bowls three times a week and teaches chess in his California city. His words have been edited for length and clarity. I never invested in stocks. I've been putting my money in CDs, probably at 4-5%. It just keeps growing without even trying. It's just amazing that I have so much because I didn't plan for it. I have about $750,000 in cash, and my home is worth $600,000. I'm from El Salvador and moved in 1946. My first long-term job was working in a bowling alley in 1958. I didn't go to college. For 17 years, I worked in the bowling industry. Then one day, I went to work, and the bowling alley was padlocked for failing to pay taxes, so I had to give up the job. I raised four sons with my wife, who worked for 41 years for Santa Rosa City Schools. We want to hear from you. Are you an older American comfortable sharing your work and retirement outlook with a reporter? Please fill out this quick form. My next job of 27 years was as a scale technician, which I trained myself to do because I knew mechanics and I was analytical. I had walked into the office and said that I wanted to take a job. They called me and said to come on down to work for two weeks. And they kept me. I started working as a Kitchenaid repairman, and then I progressed to working on machines at the supermarket. I ended up as a scale technician and took classes on how to do things electronically on the scales. I retired in 2002. My boss called me into the office the day before I turned 65. He told me my job had gone away because the scales don't break down much anymore. I went home, typed up a retirement letter, and turned it in the next day. A few years later, one of the employees asked if I could come back and work one or two days a week in the mornings. I said that if they didn't need me then, they don't need me now — I wasn't going to quit everything I was doing. Staying busy in retirement I've been bowling my whole life, and I bowl three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I'm slim, and I played soccer and taught it for 27 years. I have a national license from the United States Soccer Federation. I'm healthy because I don't smoke or drink. My friends are all old, and I'm almost the oldest one there. There's one woman who is 96. When I retired and I walked in at 65, I looked at all these people and said, "Wow, look at all these old people." Now, they're all gone, and I'm the old one there. I still teach chess and started playing in 1952. I taught chess at the city schools in Santa Rosa. I wanted to do it for free, but the schools insisted on paying me. My four boys all know how to play chess. I still teach children at the library every Wednesday. I also took free classes at the junior college for retired seniors, such as HTML, and I took guitar lessons. I'm taking a few classes right now. I'm in a writing class, a movie class, and I took a piano class before I tripped and couldn't play anymore. While I was first taking classes, my wife kept working. We didn't travel much, other than visiting San Diego. We never went abroad. My wife got dementia, and she stayed here in the house and died here. I was there when she took her last breath. I miss my wife. Once in a while, I look over on the couch, but she's not there. I bought this home in 1969 for $18,200, and I've been here since then. In my neighborhood, there are about 200 houses, and there are only one or two people left from when I bought it in 1969. I want to die here. People don't plan to die, but I've got no choice — I'm getting closer. Managing retirement finances They always say that you need all this money to retire. I didn't plan for retirement. It just happened, and I can't tell anybody exactly how to do it. I was frugal, and so was my wife. I didn't pay for my sons to go to college. They took care of themselves. I tried to pay for one of them, and he said, "I made more than you've ever seen. Go spend your money on vacations." They do have more money than I had when they were growing up. We used to use food stamps to feed ourselves. When we bought this house, my wife said, "We have four kids. We can't go around renting." She wanted me to get a better job elsewhere and send money back every month. I wouldn't do that, and I was willing to pick grapes nearby if I needed to. We bought her last car in 2003, and she kept that car until she passed away, which only had 70,000 miles on it. I gave that to one of my granddaughters. My car that I had after I retired I bought in cash. It was a 2003 Scion. Somebody ran into me who got a DUI, and I bought another Scion, which I still have. It has 60,000 miles on it. I didn't even know I had an IRA at the company. I didn't know I had a 401(k), but as soon as I did, I put 15% into it. They gave me a small IRA when I retired, and I left it in the bank. In 2008, when stocks were going down, I lost $15,000. I took my money, walked over to another bank that was just opening up, and they gave me 5% for putting my money in there. I left it there during the recession. The banks call every few months about new CDs, and I tell them, "That's a lot of work. Just keep it in as long as it's over 5%." I also give to a couple of charities, and now I've got so many new charities asking me for money and have to tell some to take me off the list. I now have a trust and will distribute my money to my grandchildren when I die. I'm going to do that for all seven of them. My next project that started this month is to rewrite my trust so that the distribution will be easier for people and nobody has to fight. I know that I can give $150,000 each to my children. Somebody in the family will have to live in my home because the taxes are only $600 a year. I don't really know how to spend my money. Nobody tells me what to do with it. People say you need to have this much money to cover your retirement, but I have enough money, and I don't even touch it. I'm now giving my grandchildren $5,000 each.
New York Times
31-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Hank Steinbrecher, Who Helped Elevate Soccer in the U.S., Dies at 77
Hank Steinbrecher, a soccer evangelist from Queens whose passion as a top United States official in the sport helped usher it into the American mainstream and who, in a previous career in marketing for Gatorade, helped popularize the ritual in which victorious players douse their coaches with coolers of sports drinks, died on Tuesday at his home in Tucson, Ariz. He was 77. His death, from degenerative heart disease, was confirmed by the United States Soccer Federation, of which Mr. Steinbrecher was secretary general from 1990 to 2000. Sunil Gulati, who was president of the federation from 2006 to 2018, said in an interview that Mr. Steinbrecher's biggest legacy was having American soccer 'be more respected at the national and international level.' In the fall of 1990, the federation, the sport's national governing body, had little money and was run by volunteers. It was in dire need of professional administrative expertise. The United States men's national team had just played in its first World Cup in 40 years, in Italy; the U.S. had recently been chosen to host the men's World Cup in 1994; and the nascent women's national team was about to emerge as the pre-eminent international power. Later that year, Alan I. Rothenberg, a Los Angeles lawyer who had been the soccer commissioner for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, became president of the federation, and he hired Steinbrecher to be secretary general, his top lieutenant, impressed by his credentials: Mr. Steinbrecher had been a collegiate player, coach and manager of the soccer venue at Harvard University during those Games (Olympic soccer is played in stadiums across the host country). And, crucial to bringing a business and commercial sensibility to the federation, he had been director of sports marketing for Gatorade. Mr. Steinbrecher had joined the company in 1985, around the time Jim Burt, a New York Giants nose tackle, dumped a cooler of Gatorade over the head of Coach Bill Parcells following a victory. Burt's antic was meant as payback for what Burt considered harsh treatment by Parcells at practice. But Gatorade dousing became an act of celebration for the Giants, especially throughout the 1986 season, as the linebacker Harry Carson kept soaking Parcells after victories, which ended with the Giants' first Super Bowl title, over the Denver Broncos. Bill Schmidt, then the vice president of worldwide marketing for Gatorade, said in an interview that with Mr. Steinbrecher's input, he had sent letters to Parcells and Carson during the playoffs that season, thanking them for sustaining the ritual that gave publicity to Gatorade. Enclosed for each was a $10,000 gift certificate to Brooks Brothers and a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that they spruce up their wardrobes. 'So it became synonymous with victory,' Mr. Steinbrecher said in 2021 to the journalist Michael Lewis, who operates the website 'And you can't ask for better marketing than that.' When Mr. Steinbrecher joined the national soccer federation in 1990, it needed all the marketing help it could get. At the time, Mr. Rothenberg recalled in an interview, the group's headquarters were squirreled away in a trailer at the United States Olympic training center in Colorado Springs. Mr. Steinbrecher was charged with moving the office into two historic mansions in Chicago to help upgrade the federation's image. He soon set about the country to proselytize for the sport, trying to galvanize its passionate but disorganized grass roots network. He spoke to local and state soccer associations with such amiable and fervent enthusiasm that Mr. Rothenberg gave him the nickname Reverend Hank. During Mr. Steinbrecher's tenure as secretary general, the soccer federation evolved from an essentially mom-and-pop operation into one that helped elevate a sport once considered by many Americans a game for immigrants. It laid the foundation for professional leagues for men and women in the United States and helped secure a spot for the U.S. on soccer's international stages. In 1994, the United States hosted the men's World Cup, held in nine cities; it remains the largest attended world soccer championship, with 3,587,538 spectators and an average of 68,991 per match. In 1991, the United States team won the inaugural Women's World Cup, played in China. And in 1996, the American women won the gold medal before huge crowds at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Then, in 1999, the United States hosted the largest sporting event ever held for women, filling N.F.L. and college football stadiums for the Women's World Cup. The tense final match, between the U.S. and China, drew 90,185 fans to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., while an audience of 40 million tuned into the game on American television. When Brandi Chastain scored the winning penalty kick for the Americans — whipping off her jersey in exultation and creating one of the most indelible images in the history of women's sports — Mr. Steinbrecher was photographed appearing to leap into the air, arms raised, fists clenched and mouth agape in celebration. But beneath the celebrations tension simmered between Mr. Steinbrecher and American players, many of whom did not believe that he treated the women's team equitably despite its success. A bitter contract dispute had led the American women to strike before the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and they would strike again before the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia. The federation had appeared so unprepared for the women's success in 1999 that the team's players organized their own victory tour. 'I think people lacked vision in that era for what women's soccer could be,' Marla Messing, the chief organizer of the 1999 Women's World Cup, said in an interview. To be fair to Mr. Steinbrecher, she said, 'he was in the majority, not an outlier.' He was stung by the criticism; he had considered the development of women's soccer among his proudest achievements. 'I worked tirelessly for the women's program,' he told Soccer America magazine on leaving the federation in 2000. 'I remember going to the board of directors when it wasn't very popular and asking them to support $1.8 million for the women when we didn't have it.' Henry William Steinbrecher was born on July 11, 1947, in Queens and grew up in the hamlet of Levittown on Long Island. His father, William Francis Steinbrecher, worked as a janitor. His mother, Helen Ida (Hammer) Steinbrecher, worked in a jewelry store and played in a softball league. Both died in the early 1970s. Mr. Steinbrecher is survived by his wife of 53 years, Ruth Anne Steinbrecher; his sons, Chad and Corey; a stepdaughter, Shawna Moss; a sister, Mary Sirakowski; and five grandchildren. Soccer imbued Mr. Steinbrecher with wanderlust. He began playing at age 6 and was known to take the Long Island Rail Road, the subway and buses to play with club teams in Brooklyn and Queens. He starred at Division Avenue High School in Levittown and won a small-school national championship in 1970 as a defender with Davis & Elkins College, in West Virginia. He earned a bachelor's degree there in English in 1971 and a master's in education in 1972 at West Virginia University, then coached at Warren Wilson College and Appalachian State, both in North Carolina, and Boston University. Soccer for him was sacrosanct. When the coach of Costa Rica's men's national team, in an unhinged tirade, threatened to travel to Washington in 1997 with a missile to kill President Bill Clinton if the coach's strategy for a World Cup qualifying match against the United States was revealed by the news media, Mr. Steinbrecher called the White House to report the matter. His most memorable soccer moment, for his family at least, occurred while playing with his sons at the family home outside Chicago in the 1980s. One Thanksgiving, Mr. Steinbrecher took a shot on goal in the yard, but it went high. The ball crashed through a dining room window and landed on the table just as his wife was setting out the turkey. All was not lost. Referring to National Lampoon's family vacation movies of the era, Chad Steinbrecher said of the turkey, 'I think we salvaged it in true Griswold family style.'
