Policy 531-8 — Assignment of Game Officials

Section 1. Registration Required Prior to Assignment
No one shall officiate as a referee or assistant referee in any match under the sanction or jurisdiction (direct or indirect) of the United States Soccer Federation who is not registered with the Federation for the current year unless that person is a visiting foreign referee who has been properly accredited by his or her national association.

Section 2. Unregistered Referee in Emergency
If, because of unforeseen circumstances, a currently registered referee is unable to officiate or does not appear for an assigned match, a person may then be designated at match time to act as referee in the emergency for that one match.

Section 3. Use of Club Linesmen
When neutral assistant referees are not assigned or fail to appear for a match as assigned, the match referee may seek the assistance of club linesmen whose duties shall be as delegated to them by the referee.

Section 4. State Assignor Coordinator
A State Assignor Coordinator (SAC) shall be jointly appointed, for a fixed term, by the State Associations of the state based on a recommendation of the State Referee Committee (SRC) or the State Referee Administrator if there is no SRC. The SAC shall be responsible for the coordination of referee assignments by the referee assignors within the State Associations and shall not assign games nor have the authority to reassign referees who have accepted previous assignments.

Section 5. Minimum Game Requirements
Each registering State Referee Committee, or State Referee Administrator if there is no State Referee Committee, with the agreement of the state associations is allowed to set a reasonable minimum number of games required by referees, registering within its jurisdiction, to maintain yearly referee grades of 5, 6 or 7.

Section 6. Assignor Code of Ethics
The SAC and referee assignors shall adhere to the Assignor Code of Ethics and ensure that all referees receive equal consideration for match assignments consistent with the state's minimum game requirements and the referees ability and desire for advancement.

Section 7. Registered Assignors
No one shall assign or appoint a referee, assistant referee or fourth official in any match under the sanction or jurisdiction (direct or indirect) of the Federation who is not registered as a Referee Assignor with the Federation for the current year. A state association, league or tournament may appoint an unregistered assignor in an emergency who may not serve past the end of the current Fiscal year without becoming registered. This section does not apply to an assignment to any youth recreational or house league match.