Professional Referee Organization
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| Founded | November 2012 |
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| Country | United States and Canada |
| Website | proreferees.com |
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, 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.
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.
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.”
Heading up PRO is Peter Walton, a former referee who officiated just under 200 matches in the Premier League in England.
The Commissioner of the MLS, Don Garber, was delighted to get Walton on board.
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