Professional Referee Organization

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.

Professional Referee Organization
FoundedNovember 2012
Headquarters420 Fifth Avenue
7th Floor
New York, NY 10018[1]
Area served
United States and Canada
Key people
Websitewww.proreferees.com
Former referee Howard Webb is now PRO's general manager.

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]

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."[4]

Major League Soccer awards
For a list of recipients before PRO's creation in 2012, see MLS Referee of the Year Award.

Since PRO's inception, the following referees have been named as Referee of the Year and Assistant Referee of the Year in Major League Soccer.[5]

Year Referee Assistant Referee
2012 Silviu Petrescu Ian Anderson
2013 Hilario Grajeda Kermit Quisenberry
2014 Mark Geiger Paul Scott
2015 Alan Kelly Corey Parker
2016 Alan Kelly Frank Anderson
2017 Allen Chapman Corey Parker
2018 Alan Kelly Joe Fletcher
2019 Allen Chapman Brian Dunn
2020 Ismail Elfath Kathryn Nesbitt

Roster

As of 2021, the following match officials are included on PRO's roster.[6]

Referees

Assistant referees
  • Frank Anderson
  • Ian Anderson
  • Kyle Atkins
  • Claudiu Badea
  • Peter Balciunas
  • Micheal Barwegen
  • Andrew Bigelow
  • Cameron Blanchard
  • Diego Blas
  • Gjovalin Bori
  • Eric Boria
  • Chantal Boudreau
  • Philippe Briere
  • Logan Brown
  • Jose da Silva
  • Brian Dunn
  • Chris Elliott
  • Gianni Facchini
  • Richard Gamache
  • Adam Garner
  • Ryan Graves
  • Jeffrey Greeson
  • Benjamin Hall-Volpenhein
  • Jeremy Hanson
  • Jeff Hosking
  • Jeremy Kieso
  • Kevin Klinger
  • Peter Manikowski
  • Apolinar Mariscal
  • Eduardo Mariscal
  • Felisha Mariscal
  • Ian McKay
  • Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
  • CJ Morgante
  • Matt Nelson
  • Kathryn Nesbitt
  • Corey Parker
  • Brian Poeschel
  • Cory Richardson
  • Corey Rockwell
  • Mike Rottersman
  • Jeffrey Swartzel
  • Nick Uranga
  • Chris Wattam
  • Eric Weisbrod
  • Jason White
  • Adam Wienckowski
  • TJ Zablocki

Video assistant referees

Assistant video assistant referees
  • Jozef Batko
  • Jonathan Johnson
  • Mike Kampmeinert
  • Kyle Longville
  • Craig Lowry
  • Jeffrey Muschik
  • Rene Parra
  • Josh Patlak
  • Robert Schaap
  • Thomas Supple
  • Fabio Tovar

Women's panel
  • Karen Abt
  • Danielle Chesky
  • Jennifer Garner
  • Katja Koroleva
  • Felisha Mariscal
  • Brooke Mayo
  • Alicia Messer
  • Kathryn Nesbitt
  • Tori Penso
  • Deleana Quan

International roster
Jair Marrufo officiating a 2018 FIFA World Cup match

The following PRO officials are included in FIFA's roster for international matches.[7]

Referees

Assistant referees
  • Frank Anderson
  • Ian Anderson
  • Kyle Atkins
  • Micheal Barwegen
  • Cameron Blanchard
  • Chantal Boudreau
  • Philippe Briere
  • Logan Brown
  • Jennifer Garner
  • Apolinar Mariscal
  • Eduardo Mariscal
  • Felisha Mariscal
  • Brooke Mayo
  • Alicia Messer
  • Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
  • Kathryn Nesbitt
  • Corey Parker
  • Deleana Quan
  • Corey Rockwell
  • Nick Uranga
  • Chris Wattam

Video match officials

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.[8]

In June 2019, Ismail Elfath as referee, Kyle Atkins and Corey Parker as assistant referees, and Alan Kelly as the video assistant referee were assigned to the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup Final.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Headquarters". Professional Referee Organization.
  2. "Support Staff". Professional Referee Organization.
  3. "About PRO". Professional Referee Organization.
  4. Avi C. (6 March 2012). "U.S. Soccer, MLS create new referee program". SBI Soccer.
  5. "MLS Awards Roll of Honor". Professional Referee Organization.
  6. "Roster". Professional Referee Organization. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  7. "2021 Refereeing International Lists" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 January 2021.
  8. "PRO officials selected to oversee FIFA Club World Cup Final". Professional Referee Organization. 21 December 2018.
  9. "PRO crew rewarded with U-20 World Cup Final assignment". Professional Referee Organization. 13 June 2019.
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