Jessica Berman isn't waiting for the men's game to figure itself out. With uncertainty swirling around FIFA president Gianni Infantino's future, the NWSL commissioner is using the moment to press the case for women's soccer — loudly and deliberately.
Berman, who sits on the U.S. Soccer board of directors, addressed the turbulence at the top of global soccer's governing body while keeping the focus squarely on what the NWSL has built and where it intends to go. U.S. Soccer is expected to formally discuss its position on Infantino's embattled presidency at next month's board meeting — a conversation Berman will be part of.
The timing matters. Global governing body politics have a habit of consuming all the oxygen in the room, leaving women's professional soccer to fight for relevance in coverage cycles dominated by FIFA boardroom drama. Berman's posture signals she has no intention of letting that happen. The NWSL has earned its standing as one of the premier women's professional leagues on the planet, and its commissioner appears determined to defend that ground.
What makes Berman's position particularly pointed is the institutional context. Infantino's relationship with women's soccer has been complicated at best — marked more by rhetorical support than structural investment. Any transition in FIFA leadership, or even prolonged uncertainty around it, carries real implications for how global resources and attention flow toward women's club and national team football. Berman clearly understands the stakes extend well beyond American shores.
For the NWSL, the moment is both delicate and opportunistic. The league has spent the past several years rebuilding credibility after a misconduct scandal that shook its foundation, and Berman has been central to that reconstruction. The league now enters conversations about its future from a position of demonstrated growth rather than damage control — and a commissioner willing to engage directly with FIFA-level politics signals an organization that sees itself as a genuine stakeholder in the global game, not a subsidiary of it.
U.S. Soccer's formal stance on Infantino, expected to be staked out at next month's board meeting, will carry weight precisely because of voices like Berman's at the table. How that position lands — and whether it reflects a genuine commitment to women's soccer or defaults to institutional caution — will tell the NWSL a great deal about what kind of support to expect from its own federation in the years ahead.