Professional Referee Organization
| Founded | November 2012 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 420 Fifth Avenue 7th Floor New York, NY 10018[1] |
Area served | United States and Canada |
Key people |
|
| Website | www |
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 Geiger | General Manager |
| Nick Primavera | Chief Operating Officer |
| John Loder | Director of Finance and Accounting |
| Joe Fletcher | Chief Refereeing Officer |
| Sarah Bettison | Manager of Human Resources and Planning |
| Yolanda Samuel | Executive Assistant |
| Dax Almazan | Manager of Payroll and Accounting |
| Sandro Ricci | Director of Senior Match Officials |
| Frank Anderson | Manager of Senior Assistant Referees |
| Greg Barkey | Manager of Video Review |
| Alan Black | Director of Technical Programs |
| Alex Prus | Director of PRO2 Match Officials |
| Mark Kadlecik | PRO2 Referee Coach |
| Erich Simmons | PRO2 Referee Coach |
| Tom Beckvermit | Director of Sports Performance |
| Lisa Stalans | Head of Sports Medicine |
| John Westbrooks | Head Sports Performance Coach |
| Nicole Ward | Director of Operations |
| Amy Edwards | Manager of Tactical and Video Analysis |
| Leisha Alcia | Operations Coordinator |
| Diane Johnson | Manager of Travel |
Major League Soccer awards
| Season[7] | Referee | Assistant Referee |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Silviu Petrescu | Ian Anderson |
| 2013 | Hilario Grajeda | Kermit Quisenberry |
| 2014 | Mark Geiger | Paul Scott |
| 2015 | Alan Kelly | Corey Parker |
| 2016 | Frank Anderson | |
| 2017 | Allen Chapman | Corey Parker |
| 2018 | Alan Kelly | Joe Fletcher |
| 2019 | Allen Chapman | Brian Dunn |
| 2020 | Ismail Elfath | Kathryn Nesbitt |
| 2021 | / Robert Sibiga | Cory Richardson |
| 2022 | Ismail Elfath | Corey Rockwell |
| 2023 | Victor Rivas | Ian McKay |
| 2024 | Drew Fischer | Kyle Atkins |
USL Championship awards
| Season[8] | Referee | Assistant Referee |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Guido Gonzales Jr. | Ian McKay |
| 2020 | Elton Garcia | Diego Blas |
| 2021 | Matt Thompson | Mike Nickerson |
| 2022 | Mark Allatin | Kali Smith |
| 2023 | Calin Radosav | Christian Clerc |
Roster
Ahead of the 2025 Major League Soccer season, these match officials were listed on the PRO rosters.
Referees
Source:[9]
- Mark Allatin
- Malik Badawi
- Fotis Bazakos
- Serhiy Boyko
- Allen Chapman
- / Alexis Da Silva
- / Marcos DeOliveira
- / Sergii Demianchuk
- Joe Dickerson
- Filip Dujic
- Ismail Elfath
- Ricardo Fierro
- Drew Fischer
- Tim Ford
- Jon Freemon
- Guido Gonzales, Jr
- Lorenzo Hernandez
- Pierre-Luc Lauziere
- Jair Marrufo
- Rosendo Mendoza
- Ricardo Montero
- Ismir Pekmic
- Chris Penso
- Tori Penso
- Victor Rivas
- Nima Saghafi
- / Lukasz Szpala
- Ramy Touchan
- Rubiel Vazquez
- Armando Villarreal
Assistant referees
Source:[10]
- Lyes Arfa
- Kyle Atkins
- Nick Balcer
- Micheal Barwegen
- Andrew Bigelow
- Cameron Blanchard
- Diego Blas
- Chantal Boudreau
- Logan Brown
- Jose da Silva
- Brian Dunn
- Chris Elliott
- Gianni Facchini
- Adam Garner
- Ryan Graves
- Jeffrey Greeson
- Jeremy Hanson
- Walt Heatherly
- Justin Howard
- Eduardo Jeff
- Gérard Kader-Lebuis
- Jeremy Kieso
- Kevin Klinger
- Kevin Lock
- Felisha Mariscal
- Brooke Mayo
- Stephen McGonagle
- Ian McKay
- Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
- Meghan Mullen
- Matt Nelson
- Kathryn Nesbitt
- Mike Nickerson
- Corey Parker
- Ben Pilgrim
- Brian Poeschel
- Cory Richardson
- Corey Rockwell
- Kali Smith
- Jeffrey Swartzel
- Stefan Tanaka-Freundt
- Nick Uranga
- Chris Wattam
- Eric Weisbrod
- Jason White
- Adam Wienckowski
- Tyler Wyrostek
Video assistant referees
Source:[11]
- David Barrie
- Carol Anne Chenard
- Greg Dopka
- Geoff Gamble
- Jorge Gonzalez
- Edvin Jurisevic
- Alejandro Mariscal
- Younes Marrakchi
- Michael Radchuk
- Daniel Radford
- José Carlos Rivero
- Sorin Stoica
- Kevin Stott
- Shawn Tehini
- Kevin Terry, Jr.
Assistant video assistant referees
Source:[12]
International roster
As of January 2025, these PRO officials' were listed on the international roster:[13]
- Lyes Arfa
- Kyle Atkins
- Micheal Barwegen
- Cameron Blanchard
- Chantal Boudreau
- Logan Brown
- Allen Chapman
- Carol Anne Chenard
- Jose Da Silva
- Filip Dujic
- Ismail Elfath
- Chris Elliott
- Drew Fischer
- Tim Ford
- Ryan Graves
- Edvin Jurisevic
- Jeremy Kieso
- Pierre-Luc Lauziere
- Felisha Mariscal
- Brooke Mayo
- Meghan Mullen
- Kathryn Nesbitt
- Corey Parker
- Chris Penso
- Tori Penso
- Cory Richardson
- Victor Rivas
- Corey Rockwell
- Kali Smith
- Stefan Tanaka-Freundt
- Nick Uranga
- Rubiel Vazquez
- Armando Villarreal
- Chris Wattam
PRO2 Roster
As of January 2025, these PRO officials were listed on the PRO2 roster: [14]
Referees
Source:[14]
- Elijio Arreguin
- Luis Diego Arroyo
- Nabil Bensalah
- Alex Billeter
- Kevin Broadley
- / Karen Callado [15]
- / Cristian Campo Hernández[16]
- Danielle Chesky
- / Matthew Corrigan [17]
- Greg Dopka
- Joshua Encarnacion
- Gerald Flores
- Elton Garcia
- JC Griggs
- Muhammad Hassan
- Brad Jensen
- Katja Koroleva
- John Matto
- Corbyn May
- Jaclyn Metz
- Ben Meyer
- Adorae Monroy
- / Abdou Ndiaye
- Alyssa Nichols
- Elvis Osmanovic
- Jamie Padilla
- / Iryna Petrunok
- Calin Radosav
- Laura Rodriguez
- Jeremy Scheer
- Natalie Simon
- Thomas Snyder
- Brandon Stevis
- Eric Tattersall
- Shawn Tehini
- Matt Thompson
- Trevor Wiseman
- Anya Voigt
- / Atahan Yaya
Assistant referees
Source:[18]
- Art Arustamyan
- Darren Bandy
- Seth Barton
- Melissa Beck
- Ethan Buege
- Chris Canales
- Jessica Carnevale
- / Zeno Cho
- Clarence Clark
- Christian Clerc
- Eric Del Rosario
- Mateusz Dulski
- Tom Felice
- Fernando Fierro
- Chana Forstall
- Sarah Gaddes
- Jennifer Garner
- Sharon Gingrich
- Melissa Gonzalez
- Rhett Hammil
- Peter Hanson
- Austin Holt
- Noah Kenyawani
- Eric Krueger
- Christian Little
- Jacob Little
- Brian Marshall
- Seth Martin
- Kendall McCardell
- Zach McWhorter
- Alicia Messer
- Stephen Milhoan
- Ricardo Ocampo
- Salma Perez
- Kristin Patterson
- Ben Rigel
- Matthew Rodman
- Bennett Savage
- Chris Schurfranz
- Matthew Schwartz
- Matthew Seem
- Nicholas Seymour
- Amilcar Sicaju
- Cameron Siler
- Jeremy Smith
- Max Smith
- Rachel Smith
- Joe Suchoski
- Matt Trotter
- Tiffini Turpin
- Katarzyna Wasiak
- / Seun Yinka-Kehinde
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.[19]
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.[20]
See also
References
- ^ "Headquarters". Professional Referee Organization.
- ^ "Support Staff". Professional Referee Organization.
- ^ "About PRO". Professional Referee Organization.
- ^ "About PSRA". Professional Referee Organization.
- ^ Avi C. (6 March 2012). "U.S. Soccer, MLS create new referee program". SBI Soccer.
- ^ "Support Staff".
- ^ "MLS Awards Roll of Honor".
- ^ "USL Awards Roll of Honor".
- ^ "Referees".
- ^ "Assistant Referees".
- ^ "Video Assistant Referees".
- ^ "Assistant Video Assistant Referees".
- ^ "FIFA International List of Match Officials".
- ^ a b "PRO2 Referees". PRO. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "The Bear & The Ball Podcast | Cal South Soccer". Cal South. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ Bogert, Tom; Maurer, Pablo; Rueter, Jeff. "Why Lionel Messi's Inter Miami will open the new MLS season with replacement match officials". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "Matthew Corrigan - 2015 - Men's Soccer". Mid-America Christian University. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "PRO2 Assistant Referees". PRO. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
- ^ "PRO officials selected to oversee FIFA Club World Cup Final". Professional Referee Organization. 21 December 2018.
- ^ "Tori Penso to referee 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Final".