CONCACAF announced that Ted Howard has been promoted from deputy general secretary to acting general secretary of the confederation. He was previously involved with the original North American Soccer League in the 1970s and early 1980s, and held executive marketing positions with Ohlmeyer Communications (formed by fomer sports television producer Don Ohlmeyer) and the NBA before joining CONCACAF in 1998. He has held adminstrative positions within CONCACAF and FIFA, such as membership on FIFA's referees and stadium/security committees.
The key word in the CONCACAF press release is "acting". The general secretary position, like all the executive positions, are elected posts, so CONCACAF will have to form an Extraordinary Congress to ratify the decisions. No date for such a Congress has been set.
Howard's ascension to general secretary is no surprise, but it means that one of the two top executive positions in the Confederation will be filled by a North American. I would pay very close attention to who chooses to run for the CONCACAF presidency. I doubt that the Caribbeans, with three-quarters of the CONCACAF membership, will accept being completely shut out of the top levels of CONCACAF leadership.
CORRECTION: And yes, it's Ted Howard, not Tim Howard. Text corrected.
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