Professional Referee Organization


Professional Referee Organization 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 Lamar Hunt 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.

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.”

MLS Referee and Assistant Referee of the Year award

Since PRO's inception:
YearRefereeAssistant 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

Match Officials

Referees

Assistant Referees

Video Assistant Referees

Assistant Video Assistant Referees

Women's Panel

FIFA International Match Officials

Notable 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.
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 Under 20 World Cup Final.