Major League Soccer will use replacement referees after PSRA gets locked out

The officials everyone is used to seeing won’t take charge of games during Major League Soccer’s opening weekend. The Professional Referees Organization and Professional Soccer Referees of America have failed to come to terms on what would have been their first collective bargaining agreement, leading PRO to make the decision to lock out PSRA.

PSRA has yet to issue a public statement, but PRO general manager Peter Walton spoke about the decision on the organization’s website.

”We have made a substantial proposal to the Professional Soccer Referees Association and believe it is very fair and reasonable. Our proposal represents a significant increase above current compensation for referees and places them above the average for officials around the world. We are disappointed it has been rejected.

“We had suggested a no strike/no lockout agreement for a reasonable period in an effort to keep the negotiations going but that was rejected by the PSRA. Since they will not give us a guarantee they will not go on strike immediately prior to our matches, we are left in a position where we must use replacement officials to ensure that the MLS games are played as scheduled this weekend.”

PRO has been making contingency plans in the event of a strike or lockout and has assembled a pool of replacement officials to ensure that Major League Soccer games and other professional games in the United States go on as scheduled. Unlike when the NFL locked out their officials, all replacements have officiated at the professional level before. They are all former MLS officials or foreign officials who no longer work in their country of origin.

MLS fans will be hoping this isn’t a sign of things to come next winter. The CBA between the league and the players expires at the end of this season, and the league only narrowly avoided a work stoppage last time they had to negotiate a new CBA.