Professional Referee Organization (PRO) is the organization responsible for managing the
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 ...
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 ...
leagues in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, working alongside the
United States Soccer Federation
The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...
,
Major League Soccer
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 ...
, 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 ( ...
, the
United Soccer League
United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...
, the
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...
, 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
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
competitions.
History
The
U.S. Soccer Federation
The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...
and
Major League Soccer
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 ...
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
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
competitions.
Then U.S. Soccer President
Sunil Gulati
Sunil Gulati ( ; born July 30, 1959) is an American sports administrator who presided over the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) from 2006 to 2018. On April 19, 2013, he was elected to a four-year term on the FIFA Council. In March 2014, he ...
said, "We've always understood that the development of referees is an important aspect to the growth of the game in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. 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."
Staff
Major League Soccer awards
USL Championship awards
Roster
As of January 2022, these match officials are listed on the PRO rosters.
Referees
* Fotis Bazakos
*
Allen Chapman
Allen Chapman (born August 18, 1974) is an American soccer referee and member of PRO. He lives in Utah.
Chapman regularly referees matches for Major League Soccer, and has done so since 2012.
During an August 2016 USL match in New Jersey, ...
* Alex Chilowicz
* / Marcos DeOliveira
* Joe Dickerson
*
Ismail Elfath
Ismail Elfath ( ar, اسماعيل الفتح; born March 3, 1982) is a Moroccan-born American soccer referee for the Professional Referee Organization. He has been a referee in Major League Soccer since 2012 and a FIFA listed referee sinc ...
*
Drew Fischer
Drew Fischer (born July 10, 1980) is a Canadian football referee who regularly officiates Major League Soccer games, and was approved for international matches in 2015.
Background
Fischer was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. As a teen i ...
* Tim Ford
* Jon Freemon
* Guido Gonzales, Jr
* Pierre-Luc Lauziere
*
Jair Marrufo
Jair Marrufo (born June 7, 1977) is an American soccer referee. He has been a referee in Major League Soccer since 2002 and a FIFA referee since 2007.
Career
Marrufo was 2008 MLS Referee of the Year.
Marrufo was suspended by MLS for the remai ...
* Rosendo Mendoza
* Ismir Pekmic
*
Chris Penso
Chris Penso (born April 28, 1982) is a referee who is active in Major League Soccer.
Career
Penso was raised in Dover, Ohio, and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of the city while studying accounting at Kent State University. He began refereeing ...
*
Tori Penso
Mary Victoria Penso (; born 1985/1986) is an American soccer referee. In 2020, she became the first woman to referee a Major League Soccer regular season match in 20 years.
Career
Penso was raised in Stuart, Florida, and began refereeing in high ...
*
Silviu Petrescu
Silviu Petrescu (born October 6, 1968) is a Canadian professional soccer referee.Nima Saghafi
* / Robert Sibiga
*
Kevin Stott
Kevin Stott (born 1967) is a soccer referee for PRO from the United States. He was a FIFA referee from 1995 to 2008. Stott was selected as a referee for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, wa ...
* Frank Anderson
* Ian Anderson
* Lyes Arfa
* Kyle Atkins
* Claudiu Badea
* Peter Balciunas
* Micheal Barwegen
* Andrew Bigelow
* Cameron Blanchard
* Diego Blas
* Gjovalin Bori
* Chantal Boudreau
* Logan Brown
* Jose da Silva
* Brian Dunn
* Chris Elliott
* Gianni Facchini
* Adam Garner
* Ryan Graves
* Jeffrey Greeson
* Jeremy Hanson
* Jeff Hosking
* Jeremy Kieso
* Kevin Klinger
* Peter Manikowski
* Felisha Mariscal
* Brooke Mayo
* Ian McKay
* Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
* CJ Morgante
* Meghan Mullen
* 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
* Tyler Wyrostek
Video assistant referees
* Malik Badawi
* Carol Anne Chenard
* Geoff Gamble
* Jorge Gonzalez
*
Hilario Grajeda
Hilario Grajeda (born February 9, 1967) is an American soccer referee. He has been a referee in Major League Soccer since 2004. His first match in the MLS was a game between Dallas Burn and Kansas City Wizards in July 2004. On July 31, 2013 ...
*
Edvin Jurisevic
Edvin Jurisevic ( hr, Jurišević; born June 7, 1975) is an American soccer referee from Omaha, Nebraska. He has been a FIFA referee since 2010.
References
Living people
American soccer referees
Major League Soccer referees
CONCACAF Ch ...
* Alejandro Mariscal
* Younes Marrakchi
* Daniel Radford
* José Carlos Rivero
* Sorin Stoica
* Kevin Terry, Jr.
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
* TJ Zablocki
Women's panel
* Danielle Chesky
* Jennifer Garner
*
Katja Koroleva
Ekaterina "Katja" Koroleva (born March 20, 1987) is an international soccer referee for the Professional Referee Organization from the United States.
Koroleva officiates matches in the National Women's Soccer League and the United Soccer League ...
Tori Penso
Mary Victoria Penso (; born 1985/1986) is an American soccer referee. In 2020, she became the first woman to referee a Major League Soccer regular season match in 20 years.
Career
Penso was raised in Stuart, Florida, and began refereeing in high ...
* Natalie Simon
International roster
As of January 2022, these officials' are on the international roster:
* Frank Anderson
* Ian Anderson
* Lyes Arfa
* Kyle Atkins
* Micheal Barwegen
* Cameron Blanchard
* Chantal Boudreau
* Logan Brown
*
Allen Chapman
Allen Chapman (born August 18, 1974) is an American soccer referee and member of PRO. He lives in Utah.
Chapman regularly referees matches for Major League Soccer, and has done so since 2012.
During an August 2016 USL match in New Jersey, ...
* Carol Anne Chenard
* Danielle Chesky
*
Ismail Elfath
Ismail Elfath ( ar, اسماعيل الفتح; born March 3, 1982) is a Moroccan-born American soccer referee for the Professional Referee Organization. He has been a referee in Major League Soccer since 2012 and a FIFA listed referee sinc ...
*
Drew Fischer
Drew Fischer (born July 10, 1980) is a Canadian football referee who regularly officiates Major League Soccer games, and was approved for international matches in 2015.
Background
Fischer was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. As a teen i ...
* Tim Ford
* Jennifer Garner
*
Edvin Jurisevic
Edvin Jurisevic ( hr, Jurišević; born June 7, 1975) is an American soccer referee from Omaha, Nebraska. He has been a FIFA referee since 2010.
References
Living people
American soccer referees
Major League Soccer referees
CONCACAF Ch ...
* Jeremy Kieso
*
Katja Koroleva
Ekaterina "Katja" Koroleva (born March 20, 1987) is an international soccer referee for the Professional Referee Organization from the United States.
Koroleva officiates matches in the National Women's Soccer League and the United Soccer League ...
* Pierre-Luc Lauziere
* Felisha Mariscal
*
Jair Marrufo
Jair Marrufo (born June 7, 1977) is an American soccer referee. He has been a referee in Major League Soccer since 2002 and a FIFA referee since 2007.
Career
Marrufo was 2008 MLS Referee of the Year.
Marrufo was suspended by MLS for the remai ...
* Brooke Mayo
* Alicia Messer
* Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
* Meghan Mullen
* Kathryn Nesbitt
* Corey Parker
*
Tori Penso
Mary Victoria Penso (; born 1985/1986) is an American soccer referee. In 2020, she became the first woman to referee a Major League Soccer regular season match in 20 years.
Career
Penso was raised in Stuart, Florida, and began refereeing in high ...
* Cory Richardson
* Corey Rockwell
* Nima Saghafi
* Natalie Simon
* Nick Uranga
* Rubiel Vazquez
* Armando Villarreal
* Chris Wattam
International appointments
In December 2018,
Jair Marrufo
Jair Marrufo (born June 7, 1977) is an American soccer referee. He has been a referee in Major League Soccer since 2002 and a FIFA referee since 2007.
Career
Marrufo was 2008 MLS Referee of the Year.
Marrufo was suspended by MLS for the remai ...
as referee, Frank Anderson and Corey Rockwell as assistant referees, and
Mark Geiger
Mark William Geiger (born August 25, 1974) is an American sports administrator and former soccer referee. He is the senior director of match officials at the Professional Referee Organization (PRO), which oversees domestic referees in Major Lea ...
Ismail Elfath
Ismail Elfath ( ar, اسماعيل الفتح; born March 3, 1982) is a Moroccan-born American soccer referee for the Professional Referee Organization. He has been a referee in Major League Soccer since 2012 and a FIFA listed referee sinc ...
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
The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 22nd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 ...