Joe Fletcher (born September 10, 1976) is a Canadian former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

from

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the 2016 census. It is part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census M ...

.Fletcher bio page
''proreferees.com'', December 31, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2018. "Joe Fletcher Bio" He is currently the manager of senior assistant referees for the

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 ...

. Fletcher is also known in accounting circles as a

Chartered Professional Accountant Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA; french: comptable professionnel agréé) is the professional certification, professional designation which united the three Canadian accounting designations that previously existed: :* Canadian Institute ...

who had his designation revoked by

CPA Canada Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) (french: Comptables professionnels agréés du Canada) is the national organization representing the Canadian accounting profession through the unification of the three largest accounting o ...

in 2020. Fletcher was disciplined for improperly taking $14.2 million in loans from his clients and falsifying documents to cover up his misconduct.

Career

Fletcher initially began officiating in 1999 in the Canadian Professional Soccer League, after receiving the opportunity from

Tony Camacho Tony Camacho is a Portuguese-born Canadian former soccer referee. Career He was born in the Portuguese island of Madeira, and he emigrated to Canada in 1972 where he began refereeing at senior amateur level. In 1987, he began officiating at t ...

then the CPSL Director of Officials. When the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the score ...

was held that summer in Canada, he was selected to be one of the tournament's assistant referees. In 2007, he officiated the

2007 Open Canada Cup The 2007 Open Canada Cup was the 10th edition of the Canadian Soccer League's open league cup tournament running from July through early September. Trois-Rivières Attak defeated Columbus Clan F.C. 3-0 in the final played at Cove Road Stadium, Lo ...

finals match. He was also voted the CSL Referee of the Year in 2007. In 2012, the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ( ...

(CSA) selected Fletcher as the recipient for the Ray Morgan Memorial Award, and the Canada Soccer International Achievement Award in 2015. In 2018, he was voted

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

assistant referee of the year. On January 18, 2019, he retired from officiating and served as a referee instructor for the CSA. In January 2020, he was named the manager of senior assistant referees for the Professional Referee Organization (PRO). Outside of soccer, Fletcher was a CPA. In 2020, Fletcher was suspended by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario for misconduct, after having been found to have improperly borrowed money from clients and falsified audits to hide the trail.

World Cup

He was selected as an assistant referee for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. In 2018, Fletcher was selected to be an assistant referee at the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia, his second World Cup appointment. He was an assistant video assistant referee for the Argentina vs Iceland and Uruguay vs Portugal games. He was also an assistant referee for the Portugal vs Morocco, South Korea vs Germany and the knockout stage match Colombia vs England.

References

https://www.cpaontario.ca/protecting-the-public/hearings-appeals/cases/d-19-009

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Joe 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Niagara Falls, Ontario Canadian soccer referees Canadian accountants Black Canadian sportspeople Major League Soccer referees CONCACAF Gold Cup referees Olympic football referees Football referees at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2014 FIFA World Cup referees Brock University alumni 2018 FIFA World Cup referees