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, 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. 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. Since PRO's inception, the following referees have been named as Referee of the Year and Assistant Referee of the Year in Major League Soccer. Roster. As of January 2022, these match officials are listed on the PRO rosters. International roster. As of January 2022, these officials' are on the international roster: 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 U-20 World Cup Final.