Professional Referee Organization
FoundedNovember 2012 (2012-11)
Headquarters420 Fifth Avenue
7th Floor
New York, NY 10018[1]
Area served
United States and Canada
Key people
Websitewww.proreferees.com

Professional Referee Organization (PRO) is the organization responsible for managing the referee and assistant referee program in professional soccer leagues in the United States and Canada, working alongside the United States Soccer Federation, Major League Soccer, the Canadian Soccer Association, the United Soccer League, the National Women's Soccer League, and the U.S. Open Cup.

The organization's targets are to increase the quality of officiating in U.S. and Canadian professional leagues, develop more professional-quality officials at a younger age, and produce officials who will represent the United States and Canada in FIFA competitions.[3] The referees employed by PRO are represented by the PSRA.[4]

History

The U.S. Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer joined forces in 2012 to create the Professional Referee Organization and the aims for PRO is to develop a higher standard of officiating at a younger age and to produce referees who can represent the United States and Canada in FIFA competitions.

Then U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said, "We've always understood that the development of referees is an important aspect to the growth of the game in the United States. PRO is another step toward the improvement and professionalization of our top referees. With the additional resources and funding provided by the formation of PRO, we will continue to build upon the progress we've already made."[5]

Staff

Employee Title[6]
Mark GeigerGeneral Manager
Nick PrimaveraChief Operating Officer
John LoderDirector of Finance and Accounting
Joe FletcherChief Refereeing Officer
Sarah BettisonManager of Human Resources and Planning
Yolanda SamuelExecutive Assistant
Dax AlmazanManager of Payroll and Accounting
Sandro RicciDirector of Senior Match Officials
Frank AndersonManager of Senior Assistant Referees
Greg BarkeyManager of Video Review
Alan BlackDirector of Technical Programs
Alex PrusDirector of PRO2 Match Officials
Mark KadlecikPRO2 Referee Coach
Erich SimmonsPRO2 Referee Coach
Tom BeckvermitDirector of Sports Performance
Lisa StalansHead of Sports Medicine
John WestbrooksHead Sports Performance Coach
Nicole WardDirector of Operations
Amy EdwardsManager of Tactical and Video Analysis
Leisha AlciaOperations Coordinator
Diane JohnsonManager of Travel

Major League Soccer awards

Season[7] Referee Assistant Referee
2012 Canada Silviu Petrescu United States Ian Anderson
2013 United States Hilario Grajeda United States Kermit Quisenberry
2014 United States Mark Geiger United States Paul Scott
2015 Republic of Ireland Alan Kelly United States Corey Parker
2016 United States Frank Anderson
2017 United States Allen Chapman United States Corey Parker
2018 Republic of Ireland Alan Kelly Canada Joe Fletcher
2019 United States Allen Chapman United States Brian Dunn
2020 United States Ismail Elfath United States Kathryn Nesbitt
2021 Poland/United States Robert Sibiga United States Cory Richardson
2022 United States Ismail Elfath United States Corey Rockwell

USL Championship awards

Season[8] Referee Assistant Referee
2019 United States Guido Gonzales Jr. United States Ian McKay
2020 United States Elton Garcia United States Diego Blas
2021 United States Matt Thompson United States Mike Nickerson
2022 United States Mark Allatin United States Kali Smith

Roster

As of February 2023, these match officials are listed on the PRO rosters.

Referees[9]

Assistant referees[10]

  • United States Ian Anderson
  • Canada Lyes Arfa
  • United States Kyle Atkins
  • United States Peter Balciunas
  • Canada Micheal Barwegen
  • United States Andrew Bigelow
  • United States Cameron Blanchard
  • United States Diego Blas
  • Canada Chantal Boudreau
  • United States Logan Brown
  • United States Jose da Silva
  • United States Brian Dunn
  • United States Chris Elliott
  • Canada Gianni Facchini
  • United States Adam Garner
  • United States Ryan Graves
  • United States Jeffrey Greeson
  • United States Jeremy Hanson
  • United States Walt Heatherly
  • United States Eduardo Jeff
  • United States Jeremy Kieso
  • United States Kevin Klinger
  • United States Kevin Lock
  • United States Felisha Mariscal
  • United States Brooke Mayo
  • United States Ian McKay
  • Canada Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
  • United States Meghan Mullen
  • United States Matt Nelson
  • United States Kathryn Nesbitt
  • United States Corey Parker
  • United States Ben Pilgrim
  • United States Brian Poeschel
  • United States Cory Richardson
  • United States Corey Rockwell
  • United States Mike Rottersman
  • United States Kali Smith
  • United States Jeffrey Swartzel
  • Canada Stefan Tanaka-Freundt
  • United States Nick Uranga
  • Canada Chris Wattam
  • United States Jason White
  • United States Adam Wienckowski
  • United States Tyler Wyrostek

Video assistant referees[11]

  • United States Malik Badawi
  • Canada David Barrie
  • Canada Carol Anne Chenard
  • Canada Geoff Gamble
  • United States Jorge Gonzalez
  • United States Luis Guardia
  • United States Edvin Jurisevic
  • United States Alejandro Mariscal
  • United States Younes Marrakchi
  • United States Daniel Radford
  • United States José Carlos Rivero
  • United States Sorin Stoica
  • United States Kevin Stott
  • United States Kevin Terry, Jr.

Assistant video assistant referees[12]

  • United States Claudiu Badea
  • United States Jozef Batko
  • Albania Gjovalin Bori
  • United States Jonathan Johnson
  • United States Mike Kampmeinert
  • United States Craig Lowry
  • United States Jeffrey Muschik
  • Canada Rene Parra
  • United States Josh Patlak
  • Canada Robert Schaap
  • United States Thomas Supple
  • United States Fabio Tovar
  • United States Eric Weisbrod
  • United States TJ Zablocki

International roster

As of February 2023, these officials' are on the international roster:[13]

International appointments

In December 2018, Jair Marrufo as referee, Frank Anderson and Corey Rockwell as assistant referees, and Mark Geiger as an assistant video assistant referee, were selected to oversee the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup final.[14]

In August 2023, six PRO officials were appointed to the FIFA Women's World Cup final—three on-field and three video officials. Tori Penso was chosen to adjudicate the final, alongside assistant referees Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt. Also chosen were Support VAR Armando Villarreal, Standby VAR Carol Anne Chenard, and Standby AVAR Drew Fischer.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Headquarters". Professional Referee Organization.
  2. ↑ "Support Staff". Professional Referee Organization.
  3. ↑ "About PRO". Professional Referee Organization.
  4. ↑ "About PSRA". Professional Referee Organization.
  5. ↑ Avi C. (6 March 2012). "U.S. Soccer, MLS create new referee program". SBI Soccer.
  6. ↑ "Support Staff".
  7. ↑ "MLS Awards Roll of Honor".
  8. ↑ "USL Awards Roll of Honor".
  9. ↑ "Referees".
  10. ↑ "Assistant Referees".
  11. ↑ "Video Assistant Referees".
  12. ↑ "Assistant Video Assistant Referees".
  13. ↑ "2023 Refereeing International Lists" (PDF).
  14. ↑ "PRO officials selected to oversee FIFA Club World Cup Final". Professional Referee Organization. 21 December 2018.
  15. ↑ "Tori Penso to referee 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Final".
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