It’s a pause that soccer fans have become painfully familiar with. A ref draws a “TV” box with their fingers and jogs over to a review monitor to look over a play while conferring with another official, the Video Assistant Referee, tucked away in a room surrounded by monitors.
But what should have been a routine check during a game between the Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls during the 2024 MLS season received an unnecessary layer of confusion.
After the video assistant completed his check and ruled that a collision with the goalkeeper in the box was not a foul, a Professional Referee Organization (PRO) manager on site — someone who was not a match official for that game — told him to take a second look.
A transcript of the interaction was provided to by a source briefed on MLS VAR procedures who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The structure encompassing the officiating of North American soccer matches is a sometimes dizzying combination of acronyms and intermingled bodies. PRO oversees refereeing as it relates to professional leagues. The Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA) is a certified labor union representing the rights of the refs themselves. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an independent organization upholding the rules of soccer around the world.
Even the terminology around VAR, used to ensure the accuracy of calls on critical plays but often derided as slowing down the game and disrupting its natural flow, is complex. The Video Referee… also has an assistant.
IFAB regulations mandate that VAR decisions must be made by only the on-field officials, plus the video ref and their aforementioned assistant — meaning the interaction above was at odds with the accepted global standards for use of video replay.
According to multiple sources familiar with PRO policy and refereeing at the top level of men’s and women’s soccer, interference from PRO has become a habitual problem in MLS and NWSL games. While the presence of a PRO manager listening in at a game would be normal as part of their analysis and oversight, actual participation in the in-game decision making process extends beyond their remit.
During the Crew-Red Bulls incident, the first part of the VAR check played out fairly normally on the field, with a pause of approximately a minute for the check itself, followed by…