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, Major League Soccer, the Canadian Soccer Association, the United Soccer League, the National Women's Soccer League, MLS Next Pro, 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 PRO senior match officials primarily referee in Major League Soccer. The PRO2 officials primarily referee in the USL, NWSL, and MLS Next Pro.
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."
The referees employed by PRO are represented by the PSRA. PRO and the PSRA have negotiated several collective bargaining agreements. In 2014, PRO used replacement officials for the first two weekends of the MLS season. During the 2024 MLS referee lockout, replacement officials were used for the first six matchdays.
Staff +Executive Staff and Senior Match Officials DeptNamePositionMark GeigerGeneral ManagerNick PrimaveraChief Operating OfficerJoe FletcherChief Refereeing OfficerAlan KellyDirector of Senior Match OfficialsFrank AndersonManager of Senior Assistant RefereesGreg BarkeyManager of Video Review +PRO2 Match Officials DeptNamePositionAlex PrusDirector of PRO2 Match OfficialsErich SimmonsDirector of PRO2 RefereesIan AndersonDirector of PRO2 Assistant RefereesDave GantarManager of PRO2 Video ReviewMelissa BorjasManager of NWSL officialsKate JacewiczPRO2 Referee CoachMark KadlecikPRO2 Referee CoachAbbey OkulajaPRO2 Referee CoachRobert SibigaPRO2 Referee CoachSorin StoicaPRO2 Referee CoachChantel BoundreauPRO2 Assistant Referee CoachSteve MontaninoPRO2 Technical CoordinatorAlan BlackDirector of AssessmentChris RivettDirector of Communication and External Relations +PRO Sports PerformanceNamePositionTom BeckvermitDirector of Sports PerformanceLisa StalansHead of Sports MedicineJohn WestbrooksHead Sports Performance CoachHeather BetancourtSports Performance CoachFrank BaroneSports Performance Coach +Administrative StaffNamePositionJohn LoderDirector of Finance and AccountingSarah BettisonManager of Human Resources and PlanningDax AlmazanManager of Payroll and AccountingMariam BlountHuman Resources CoordinatorStephen McloughlinSenior Staff AccountantBrian CarneyAccounting CoordinatorWynnifred SandersHuman Resources Generalist +Operations DeptNamePositionNicole WardDirector of OperationsDrayden FarciManager of OperationsAmy EdwardsManager of Tactical and Video AnalysisLeisha AlciaOperations CoordinatorPaolo MondiniOperations CoordinatorCheryl MalikManager of TravelWarren RosarioManager of TechnologyLuke BerryTactical and Video Analyst
Major League Soccer awards
SeasonRefereeAssistant Referee 2012 Silviu Petrescu Ian Anderson 2013 Hilario Grajeda Kermit Quisenberry 2014 Mark Geiger Paul Scott 2015 Alan Kelly Corey Parker 2016 Frank Anderson 2017 Allen Chapman Corey Parker 2018 Alan Kelly Joe Fletcher 2019 Allen Chapman Brian Dunn 2020 Ismail Elfath Kathryn Nesbitt 2021 / Robert Sibiga Cory Richardson 2022 Ismail Elfath Corey Rockwell 2023 Victor Rivas Ian McKay 2024 Drew Fischer Kyle Atkins 2025 Cory Richardson
USL Championship awards SeasonRefereeAssistant Referee 2019 Guido Gonzales Jr. Ian McKay 2020 Elton Garcia Diego Blas 2021 Matt Thompson Mike Nickerson 2022 Mark Allatin Kali Smith 2023 Calin Radosav Christian Clerc2024 Abdoe Ndiaye Matthew Rodman2025 Matthew Corrigan Rhett Hammil
Roster Ahead of the 2026 Major League Soccer season, these match officials were listed on the PRO rosters.
Referees Source:
Elijio Arreguin Malik Badawi Fotis Bazakos Serhiy Boyko Allen Chapman / Alexis Da Silva / Marcos DeOliveira / Sergii Demianchuk Joe Dickerson Filip Dujic Ismail Elfath Ricardo Fierro Drew Fischer Tim Ford Jon Freemon Guido Gonzales, Jr Lorenzo Hernandez Pierre-Luc Lauzière Jair Marrufo Rosendo Mendoza Ricardo Montero Ismir Pekmic Chris Penso Tori Penso Victor Rivas Nima Saghafi / Lukasz Szpala Ramy Touchan Rubiel Vazquez Armando Villarreal
Assistant referees Source:
Lyes Arfa Kyle Atkins Nick Balcer Micheal Barwegen Andrew Bigelow Cameron Blanchard Diego Blas Logan Brown Jose da Silva Brian Dunn Chris Elliott Gianni Facchini Adam Garner Ryan Graves Jeffrey Greeson Rhett Hammil Jeremy Hanson Walt Heatherly Justin Howard Eduardo Jeff Jeremy Kieso Kevin Klinger Gérard-Kader Lebuis Kevin Lock Felisha Mariscal Brooke Mayo Stephen McGonagle Ian McKay Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho Meghan Mullen Matt Nelson Kathryn Nesbitt Mike Nickerson Corey Parker Ben Pilgrim Brian Poeschel Cory Richardson Corey Rockwell Kali Smith Jeffrey Swartzel Stefan Tanaka-Freundt Nick Uranga Chris Wattam Eric Weisbrod Jason White Adam Wienckowski Tyler Wyrostek
Video assistant referees Source:
David Barrie Carol Anne Chenard Greg Dopka Geoff Gamble Jorge Gonzalez Edvin Jurisevic Younes Marrakchi Michael Radchuk Daniel Radford José Carlos Rivero Kevin Stott Shawn Tehini Kevin Terry Jr.
Assistant video assistant referees Source:
Claudiu Badea Tom Felice Jonathan Johnson Mike Kampmeinert John Krill Craig Lowry Jeffrey Muschik Josh Patlak Robert Schaap Thomas Supple Fabio Tovar TJ Zablocki
International roster As of January 2026, these PRO senior match officials' were listed on the international roster:
See also: List of FIFA international referees
PRO2 Roster As of January 2026, these PRO officials were listed on the PRO2 roster:
Referees Source:
Assistant referees Source:
International appointments +PRO Officials at FIFA Men's World Cups2014 World Cup Brazil 2018 World Cup Russia 2022 World Cup Qatar 2026 World Cup North America Mark Geiger (Referee)Mark Geiger (Referee)Ismail Elfath (Referee)Ismail Elfath (Referee)Sean Hurd (AR)Jair Marrufo (Referee)Kyle Atkins (AR)Tori Penso (Referee)Joe Fletcher (AR)Joe Fletcher (AR)Corey Parker AR)Drew Fischer (Referee)Eric Boria (Support AR)Frank Anderson (AR)Kathryn Nesbitt (AR)Kyle Atkins (AR)Corey Rockwell (AR)Armando Villarreal (VMO)Corey Parker (AR)Drew Fischer (VMO)Kathryn Nesbitt (AR)Brooke Mayo (AR)Lyes Arfa (AR)Michael Barwegen (AR)Joe Dickerson (VMO)Armando Villarreal (VMO)
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.
At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, several PRO officials were appointed to the final. Ismail Elfath served as the fourth official, Kathryn Nesbitt was the 5th official, Kyle Atkins was the offside VAR for the match, and Corey Parker was the standby VAR.
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.
At the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Ismail Elfath, Kyle Atkins, and Corey Parker took the field for the semifinal between Argentina and England. It was first time a PRO referee has taken charge of a semifinal at a men's World Cup.
See also List of MLS Cup Referees MLS Referee of the Year Award Professional Soccer Referees Association List of FIFA international referees
References
External links