News site calls for U.S. Soccer to withdraw support for Blatter

New years are all about clean slates and change for the better. Or they should be.

One prominent domestic soccer news site hopes to see a major policy shift in 2013 for the U.S. soccer establishment.

The Shin Guardian has initiated an on-line petition encouraging U.S. Soccer to withdraw its support for controversial FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

U.S. Soccer has always been in an awkward position regarding FIFA’s chief, surely opposed to misogynistic and homophobic attitudes. And U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati and others in soccer’s governing body here can’t appreciate disparaging (and fairly ignorant) comments Blatter has issued on the game and its growth in the United States.

They definitely bristle at the ongoing concerns of corruption in high-level FIFA dealings.

On the other hand, there’s a lot of power centralized in FIFA’s Zurich offices; at some level, it assists in domestic endeavors to go along and get along, unappealing as that may be. So, yes, it’s a delicate situation.

Will the Shin Guardian efforts create any real traction in guiding U.S. Soccer’s leaders toward a different stance on Blatter? Hard to know … but power to the people, and all, I say.  You decide!

Here’s the link to the petition, along with the site’s case for advocacy in this effort.