Professional Referee Organization
Professional Referee Organization is the organization responsible for managing the referee and referee (association football)|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 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. The referees employed by PRO are represented by the PSRA.
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."
Major League Soccer awards
| Season | Referee | Assistant Referee |
| 2012 | ![]() RosterAhead of the 2025 Major League Soccer season, these match officials were listed on the PRO rosters.RefereesSource:
Assistant refereesSource:
Video assistant refereesSource:
Assistant video assistant refereesSource:
International rosterAs of January 2025, these PRO officials' were listed on the international roster:
PRO2 RosterAs of January 2025, these PRO officials were listed on the PRO2 roster:RefereesSource:
Assistant refereesSource:
International appointmentsIn 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 August 2023, six PRO officials were appointed to the FIFA Women's World Cup final—three on-field and three video officials. Tori Penso was chosen to adjudicate the final, alongside assistant referees Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt. Also chosen were Support VAR Armando Villarreal, Standby VAR Carol Anne Chenard, and Standby AVAR Drew Fischer. |
