Assignment has been officially announced: https://proreferees.com/2025/12/03/...1-KbGCoC2yuixHculy_aem_j0MG3uUMuvk79AD-X-Re6Q The crew for the 2025 MLS Cup on Saturday, December 6, has been announced. The showpiece game between Inter Miami and Vancouver Whitecaps will kick off at 2:30PM ET at Chase Stadium. Inter Miami vs Vancouver Whitecaps Chase Stadium (2:30PM ET) REF: Drew Fischer AR1: Cory Richardson AR2: Nick Uranga 4TH: Pierre-Luc Lauziere VAR: Carol Anne Chenard AVAR: Tom Supple RAR: Jeremy Kieso
Fischer: 3rd MLS Cup (VAR 2020 & 2022), first as referee Richardson: 3rd MLS Cup (RAR 2020, AVAR 2021), 1st as AR Uranga: 1st MLS Cup Lauzière: 1st MLS Cup Chénard: 1st MLS Cup Supple: 2nd MLS Cup (AVAR 2018) Kieso: 2nd MLS Cup (RAR 2023)
Does Fischer now hold the record of longest time between first MLS whistle and first MLS Cup whistle? He made his 2012. So 13 years in the league before getting an MLS Cup whistle. I can't think of anyone longer.
Salazar is closest, I think. He starts in 2000 and gets it in 2011. Elfath 2012 to 2022. Geiger is actually 2004 to 2014, so both recent WC referees are 10 years in league. Obviously can't be anyone from 2009 or before and with Marrufo/Chapman/Kelly getting a bunch in the 2010s, there just aren't a lot of options.
Too bad there couldn’t have been a retiring PRO referee to give the whistle to who would treat the Miami pre-madonnas the way they should be treated and not care because he’s out of there after the game. You can’t fire me I quit
Pretty clearly wrong handball decision against Busquets to give Vancouver a free kick in the attacking third. Textbook example of deliberately playing the ball off one’s own body, with no secondary motion of the arm. Surprising mistake.
10’ incident is worth another work later, perhaps an argument for VC against VAN20 12’ good job stopping that quick free kick, which was clearly being taken from the wrong position. 13’ easy YC A lot for Fischer to deal with early.
I don't blame Inter Miami for embarrassing Fischer. If the referee has no self-respect for himself why should they respect him. Obvious fouls and Inter dissents at Fischer and he just smiles at them. "Kill them with kindness I guess." Gross.
I’m sure you’re thrilled with absolutely no reaction or, god forbid, misconduct for Mascherano literally rubbing into the field to protest a decision in the 51st minute.
i don’t think you can blame Fisher at all for that. No way in heck MLS or PRO want this game to be the game that dissent gets cracked down on. While it was totally meaningless in this game as it was a 2 goal differential, I still liked that when he cautioned for time wasting, he added time. It’s a major pet peeve of mine in added time when a player is cautioned for time wasting—which takes more time—and no time at all is added.
No one is saying give 10 yellow cards for dissent. What I'm saying is do something other than smile at them when they are showing you up. Yell at them, admonition them, warn them, etc. Multiple tools in your tool kit and, maybe, when all that fails give a yellow card. They kept showing him up and he kept smiling and nothing changed.
Does anyone have the numbers on video reviews for the playoffs? I don't think I remember a single one!
Glad to see 10 yellows from Fischer. Nice Should have thrown complete a-hole Joe Dickerson on this game, and with half the Miami team retiring, just tell him he’ll never do another Miami game as long as Messi is on the team but to discipline their endless dissent as much as he wants. He would love that, as evidenced by his interaction with Messi earlier this year
I mean you hear him swearing at players at inside video review, you see him angrily staring at and yelling at players, the whole thing with Messi after that game during the season. He has a very authoritarian personality
I thought Drew Fischer did really well. Only nit I might have, and it's probably with the VAR, was an elbow to the head, of I think Baltazar Rodriguez, that I thought deserved a 2nd look.
Only on a webinar. By the way I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I enjoy how he acts towards players, that’s all I’m talking about with his personality, not his regular life
I had a REALLY fun and fascinating conversation with Joe at southern regionals last summer about this exact topic (how to leverage parts of your natural personality for your refereeing persona, and how the style choices one referee makes wouldn't work for another referee with a different natural personality).
Yes I’m sure Joe is a nice guy in real life. Just seeing his referee personality he comes off like a real jerk, and I enjoy it. I’ve actually talked to Victor Rivas in real life, and he’s a somewhat soft spoken guy which also comes across in his refereeing, he’s not confrontational
In the first round there were two reviews. Dickerson's and an offside one in Portland v San Diego. PRO also internally noted four missed reviews in that round. PRO stopped commenting after the first round, so I believe that means there were no more reviews. I am not sure if that means there were also no missed reviews.