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 North American Soccer League, 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]
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
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
|
Roster
As of 2020,[update] the following match officials are included on PRO's roster.[6]
Referees
Fotis Bazakos- Allen Chapman
- Alex Chilowicz
/ Marcos DeOliveira- Joseph Dickerson
- Ismail Elfath
Drew Fischer- Timothy Ford
- David Gantar
- Guido Gonzales, Jr
- Hilario Grajeda
Alan Kelly- Jair Marrufo
- Rosendo Mendoza
- Chris Penso
- Silviu Petrescu
- Victor Rivas
- Jose Carlos Rivero
- Nima Saghafi
/ Robert Sibiga- Kevin Stott
- Baldomero Toledo
- Ramy Touchan
- Ted Unkel
- Rubiel Vazquez
- Armando Villarreal
Assistant referees
- Frank Anderson
- Ian Anderson
- Kyle Atkins
- Claudiu Badea
- Peter Balciunas
- Micheal Barwegen
- Andrew Bigelow
- Cameron Blanchard
Gjovalin Bori- Eric Boria
- Philippe Briere
- Logan Brown
- Jose da Silva
- Brian Dunn
- Chris Elliott
- Gianni Facchini
- Richard Gamache
- Adam Garner
- Jeffrey Greeson
- Benjamin Hall-Volpenhein
- Jeremy Hanson
- Jeff Hosking
- Jonathan Johnson
- Jeremy Kieso
- Kevin Klinger
- Craig Lowry
- 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
- Nick Uranga
- Chris Wattam
- Eric Weisbrod
- Jason White
- Adam Wienckowski
- TJ Zablocki
Video assistant referees
- Malik Badawi
- Jon Freemon
- Geoff Gamble
- Jorge Gonzalez
- Edvin Jurisevic
- Alejandro Mariscal
- Caleb Mendez
- Daniel Radford
- Ricardo Salazar
- Sorin Stoica
- Kevin Terry, Jr.
Assistant video assistant referees
- Jozef Batko
- Mike Kampmeinert
- Kyle Longville
- 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
- Deleana Quan
International roster
The following PRO officials are included in FIFA's roster for international matches.[7]
Referees
- Drew Fischer
- David Gantar
- Karen Abt
- Danielle Chesky
- Ismail Elfath
- Katja Koroleva
- Jair Marrufo
- Nima Saghafi
- Ted Unkel
- Rubiel Vazquez
- Armando Villarreal
Assistant referees
- Micheal Barwegen
- Philippe Briere
- Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
- Chris Wattam
- Frank Anderson
- Ian Anderson
- Kyle Atkins
- Cameron Blanchard
- Logan Brown
- Jennifer Garner
- Apolinar Mariscal
- Eduardo Mariscal
- Felisha Mariscal
- Brooke Mayo
- Alicia Messer
- Kathryn Nesbitt
- Corey Parker
- Deleana Quan
- Corey Rockwell
- Nick Uranga
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
- ^ "Headquarters". Professional Referee Organization.
- ^ "Support Staff". Professional Referee Organization.
- ^ "About PRO". Professional Referee Organization.
- ^ Avi C. (6 March 2012). "U.S. Soccer, MLS create new referee program". SBI Soccer.
- ^ "MLS Awards Roll of Honor". Professional Referee Organization.
- ^ "Roster". Professional Referee Organization. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ "2020 Refereeing International Lists" (PDF). FIFA.
- ^ "PRO officials selected to oversee FIFA Club World Cup Final". Professional Referee Organization. 21 December 2018.
- ^ "PRO crew rewarded with U-20 World Cup Final assignment". Professional Referee Organization. 13 June 2019.
