Referees as Administrative Officers, Conflict of Interest

The U.S. Soccer Federation Policy 531-1 Section 1, provides that the State Referee Administrator may be a member of the State Board or Executive-Committee, but shall not be the President or Chief Executive Officer of the State Association.Federation Policy 531-6, further provides that a registered referee shall not be eligible as a player in any competition while serving as a game official.

These rules permit referees to be represented on the administrative committee or board of a league or state association, and allow an active referee to be the chief officer of a league.The above restrictions are a minimum and referees should take steps to prevent any appearance of a conflict of interest.Therefore, the U.S. Soccer Referee Committee has adopted the following policy:

An active referee may serve on the administrative committees or board of a league or state association including being the chief officer (except as restricted in U.S. Soccer Policy 531-1), and may referee in the league or state association while also being a member, but the referees:

• shall disqualify themselves from participating in any disciplinary proceeding in which the subject is a team, player or other personwhere there is a vested interest,
• shall be recused from participating in any disciplinary proceeding involving a game where they served as a game official.
• should not referee in any match where there is a vested interest.

"Vested interest" is defined as when the referee or a member of the referee's family (spouse, child or parent) or that person’s team may be affected by the outcome of the proceeding or match.