Policy 531-1 — Referee Administration
Section 1.
The State Referee Administrator (SRA) shall be jointly appointed by the Adult and Youth State Associations within the State. (A mutually acceptable nominee will be selected by the Referee Committee and the Board of Directors when the State Associations cannot agree.) The SRA shall be appointed for a specified two (2) year term and may be reappointed. (An interim SRA may be appointed, as provided in this section, to fill a vacancy during the specified 2-year term.) The SRA shall work in cooperation with the Referee Committee in administering the Federation referees within the State through which they are registered and shall serve as a liaison between the State Associations. The SRA may be a member of the State Board or Executive Committee, but shall not be the President or Chief Officer of the State Association.
Section 2.
A State Youth Referee Administrator (SYRA) shall be appointed by the Youth State Association for a specified (2) two year term with the advice of the State Referee Administrator. The State Youth Referee Administrator may be reappointed. An interim SYRA may be appointed to fill a vacancy during the specified 2-year term. At the discretion of the Youth State Association, the SYRA, or designee if there is no SYRA available, will be responsible for implementing and administering the national programs for the Recreational Youth Referee, Linesman, and Referee for Small Sided Games level referees (grades 9, 10, & 11). The SYRA or designee will also serve as registrar for the aforementioned grades.
Section 3.
All Federation registered referees who reside, work or do their primary refereeing outside of the State Associations of the United States shall be administered by the Referee Staff of the Federation in consultation with the Referee Committee.
Section 4.
(a) The adult and youth State Associations within a State may jointly establish a State Referee Committee to administer the National Referee Development Program for their two State Associations. If the two State Associations cannot agree on establishing a State Referee Committee, the Federation Referee Committee may propose and the Board of Directors may establish such a committee after 30 days notice to the two State Associations of its intent to do so.
(b) The State Referee Committee shall consist of at least the following positions: a Chairperson, the State Referee Administrator, the State Youth Referee Administrator, the State Director of Referee Instruction, the State Director of Referee Assessment, the State Assignor Coordinator, the President or a representative of the youth State Association, and the President or representative of the adult State Association. The positions of Chairperson and State Referee Administrator may be combined with the joint agreement of the two State Associations.
(c) Each State Referee Committee shall—
(1) retain independent auditors to conduct either a financial review or audit each year of the financial records of the Committee;
(2) promptly provide copies of each review or audit to the Federation and each of the two State Associations;
(3) submit a semiannual report on the operations of the Committee for the prior six months, including financial statements; and
(4) file with the Federation and each of the two State Associations copies of its governing documents and amendments to those documents.
(d) Subsections (b) and (c) of this section 4 only apply to a State Referee Committee that is organized independently of, and separate from, any youth or adult State Association, or both.
Section 5.
The Federation Referee Registration Form shall contain the following statement for referees to sign when completing the form: "I agree to participate in, and comply with, the risk management program of the Organization Member through which I am participating."
Section 6.
Each National Affiliate, National Association, National Member and Other Affiliate shall designate to the Secretary General annually a specific point of contact (e.g. director of game officials, referee committee chair, etc.), and an alternate person responsible for matters related to game officiating, with contact information for both the director and alternate director. This point of contact shall be responsible for organizational compliance with Federation policies related to referees and for compliance with the provisions of Policy 531-9 — Misconduct Towards Game Officials and Policy 531-10 — Misconduct of Game Officials. The Referee Department Staff of the Federation shall insure that such contact information is provided to each State Referee Administrator to facilitate reporting of referee abuse and assault and misconduct of game officials.
Policy 531-2 — Referee Registration Fee
Section 1. Setting the Fee and Use of Payment by the Federation
The registration fee for referees shall be set by the Referee Committee and approved by the Board of Directors. From the registration fee, 50% shall be paid to the treasury of the Federation and used only for the National Referee Development Program.
Section 2. Fee Payments Retained and Used by State Referee Committee
(A) For State Associations, the other 50% shall be retained within the State of registration by the State Referee Committee or the State Referee Administrator (SRA) if there is no State Referee Committee, and expended on referee development to include but not be limited to referee recruitment, instruction, assessment, assignment, administration, and permit the state the opportunity to offer referee educational experience which will benefit the referee and the state’s program.
(B) The State Referee Committee and/or the SRA either through the State Association and/or State Referee Committee or SRA shall provide for such fiscal control procedures necessary for proper fund accounting, prepare an annual budget, and an annual written report of income and expenditures to the State Association and the Referee Committee.
Policy 531-3 — Referee Registration Cards
All referee registration cards shall be issued by the United States Soccer Federation.
Policy 531-4 — Referee Uniform
The official uniform for referees shall be set forth by the Board of Directors.
Policy 531-5 — Referee Authority
The referee shall have the power to decide as to the fitness of the ground in all matches.
Policy 531-6 — Restriction on Referee as a Player
A referee, when registered as such, shall not be eligible as a player in any competition in which he is a game official.
Policy 531-7 — Federation FIFA Referee and Assistant Referee Qualifications
Referees and assistant referees appointed to the International Referee and Assistant Referee Panels of FIFA must be United States citizens and must meet the requirements established by FIFA.