Mark Geiger has taken on greater responsibilities with PRO. (Photo courtesy of PRO)
The Professional Referee Organization Friday announced that it had appointed Mark Geiger as its new general manager, effective immediately.
One of North America’s most heralded referees, Geiger retired from officiating in January 2019 to become PRO’s director of senior match officials after a 21-year career.
The two-time MLS referee of the year officiated at two World Cups, four FIFA Club World Cups, three Concacaf Gold Cups and the Olympic Games. In 2014, he became the first American to referee a men’s World Cup knockout stage match and was the fourth official for the World Cup semifinal between Brazil and Germany. Four years later, Geiger was VAR for the third place playoff between Belgium and England at the World Cup in Russia.
Since retiring from the field, he has established a reputation as one of the game’s most respected educators, serving FIFA as a technical and VAR instructor at the 2019 Women’s World Cup, 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, 2022 Under-20 Women’s World Cup, 2022 Women’s World Cup Project, 2022 Master Futuro and most recently, at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Geiger is also a national coach for U.S. Soccer.
After making his MLS debut in May 2004, Geiger went on to oversee 186 regular-season games and took charge of the 2014 MLS Cup between LA Galaxy and New England Revolution.
He was named MLS referee of the year in 2011. Three years later, he won the award for a second time, alongside winning the Concacaf referee of the year accolade. His last assignment as a referee was the 2018 MLS Western Conference championship second leg, and his final game of his career was as AVAR at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi.
