Arena, Gansler highlight Builders Ballot
Pair of coaches among those eligible for Hall of Fame induction
Former U.S. men's national team coach Bruce Arena, who coached D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls in MLS; former MLS and international referee Esse Baharmast; former U.S. national team and Kansas City Wizards coach Bob Gansler; New England Revolution investor-operator Robert Kraft; Joe Machnik, currently an assistant to the deputy commissioner for MLS; and D.C. United president and CEO Kevin Payne are among the 16 candidates listed on the ballot.
Builder candidates were selected by vote of the Builders' Screening Committee, a 16-member committee made up of selected Hall of Famers, from a list of 53 eligible candidates. The Ballot will be submitted to all Hall of Famers and a select group of current soccer administrators for their vote. The builder candidate who receives the most votes, as long as the total represents at least 50 percent of the ballots cast, will be elected to the Hall of Fame.
In 2007, former U.S. Soccer president and founder and original chairman of Major League Soccer, Alan I. Rothenberg, was inducted to the Hall of Fame.
Those listed on the 2008 Builders Ballot:
Bruce Arena - coach, Univ. of Virginia, D.C. United, U.S. men's national team, New York Red Bulls
Esse Baharmast - MLS, national and international referee
Chuck Blazer - soccer administrator and executive, FIFA Executive Committee Member, CONCACAF General Secretary
Dr. Robert Contiguglia - former president of U.S. Soccer and chair, U.S. Youth Soccer
Bill Cox - soccer investor, founder of the International Soccer League in the 1960s, president of the NASL's San Diego Toros
Gino D'Ippolito - NASL, national and international referee
Anson Dorrance - Univ. of North Carolina and U.S. women's national team coach
Bob Gansler - coach, U.S. men's national team, Kansas City Wizards
Robert Kraft - MLS investor-operator, New England Revolution
Frank Longo - collegiate soccer and U.S. Soccer administrator
Joe Machnik - collegiate coach, professional referee, currently Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner for On-Field Competition at Major League Soccer
Francisco Marcos - founder of the United Soccer Leagues and current president of USL
Fritz Marth - former executive director of U.S. Amateur (now Adult) Soccer Association
Thom Meredith - executive with the North American Soccer League, U.S. Soccer and the Women's United Soccer Association
Kevin Payne - president and CEO, D.C. United of Major League Soccer
George Strawbridge - owner of the NASL's Tampa Bay Rowdies
More information about each of the Builder candidates is on the Hall of Fame and Museum's web site, www.soccerhall.org.
