Ricardo Salazar (born September 6, 1972) is a

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 ...

who currently 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 ...

and International Matches. He became a full-time referee in 2007.

MLS

Since becoming a fully professional referee in 2007, Salazar has officiated many matches in

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 ...

. He has also officiated many important

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Americ ...

matches, including the CONCACAF Champions Cup Semi Final between

Pachuca CF Club de Fútbol Pachuca is a Mexican professional football team based in Pachuca, Hidalgo, that competes in Liga MX. Founded by Cornish miners from Camborne and Redruth in 1901, it is one of the oldest football clubs in the Americas, and was o ...

and CD Motagua. Salazar was also one of the referees picked to officiate in the 2009 Pan-Pacific Championship. On June 19, 2011, Salazar refereed an MLS match between the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

and

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

, in which he issued a yellow card to Adam Moffat and a red to Red Bulls star

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best players ...

after an altercation. Salazar officiated the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final between

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

and

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

. He handed out six yellow cards, all six to the Sounders, who went on to lose the game.r. On March 17, 2013, Salazar refereed an MLS match between the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

and

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

. Chivas' Velázquez was originally shown his first yellow card of the match after a challenge on Galaxy midfielder Colin Clark. The player was then immediately shown a red card. The Professional Referees Organization (PRO) stated that the original caution card was shown by mistake and it was, in actuality, a red that was issued for the challenge. Chivas made a successful request to have the case reviewed by the independent panel and the card was overturned. On June 1, 2013, Salazar refereed a match between Chivas USA and the Seattle Sounders FC. Late in the game, Salazar gave a straight red to Seattle's

Obafemi Martins Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins (born 28 October 1984) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is known for his speed on the ball. After leaving Nigeria for Italy at age 16, he has since played for a number of top-d ...

of in the 71st minute after a tussle with Chivas player Gabriel Farfan. MLS rescinded the card.

International

Since becoming a

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 ...

referee in 2005, Salazar had been chosen to officiate six international matches, four of which have been International Friendlies. On May 24, 2010 he officiated a friendly between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

. International Matches officiated

Card statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salazar, Ricardo 1972 births American soccer referees Living people Sportspeople from Elgin, Illinois Sportspeople from Bakersfield, California CONCACAF Champions League referees Major League Soccer referees