After his strong performance as an official at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, American referee Mark Geiger will call his first MLS game on Wednesday night since his exploits in Brazil, taking charge of the nationally televised Real Salt Lake-New York Red Bulls tilt at Rio Tinto Stadium (9 pm ET, ESPN2).
Geiger officiated three matches at the World Cup, including the France-Nigeria match in the Round of 16, and generally received strong reviews, although not from Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi. Geiger also served as the fourth official for the Germany-Brazil semifinal.
A veteran league official, Geiger has only served as the referee for three MLS matches so far this season, including Real Salt Lake's 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids on May 14. He whistled at least one penalty kick in each of the three games, four in total.
After officiating the second leg of last year's Western Conference Championship, Geiger worked major international games at the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco and the 2013-14 CONCACAF Champions League semifinals in Costa Rica.
The complete list of refereeing assignments has been announced for the upcoming week of Major League Soccer action.
MONDAY, JULY 28
Seattle Sounders vs. LA Galaxy
CenturyLink Field (10 pm ET)
REFEREE: HILARIO GRAJEDA
AR1: Bill Dittmar
AR2: Baboucarr Jallow
4TH: Juan Guzman
WEDNESDAY, JULY 30
DC United vs. Toronto FC
RFK Stadium (7 pm ET)
REFEREE: Chris Penso
AR1: Corey Parker
AR2: Matthew Nelson
4TH: Kevin Terry Jr.
New England Revolution vs. Colorado Rapids
Gilette Stadium (7:30 pm ET)
REFEREE: JUAN GUZMAN
AR1: Claudio Badea
AR2: Scott Kachmarik
4TH: Alan Kelly
Chicago Fire vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
Toyota Park (8:30 pm ET)
REFEREE: FOTIS BAZAKOS
AR1: Chris Strickland
AR2: Gregory Barkey
4TH: Robert Sibiga
Real Salt Lake vs. New York Red Bulls
Rio Tinto Stadium (9 pm ET)
REFEREE: MARK GEIGER
AR1: CJ Morgante
AR2: Felisha Mariscal
4TH: Tyler Ploeger
FRIDAY, AUGUST 1
Sporting Kansas City vs. Philadelphia Union
Sporting Park (8 pm ET)
REFEREE: JAIR MARRUFO
AR1: Corey E. Rockwell
AR2: Eric Boria
4TH: Sorin Stoica
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2
LA Galaxy vs. Portland Timbers
StubHub Center (2:30 pm ET)
REFEREE: Kevin Stott
AR1: Brian Poeschel
AR2: Jeremy Hanson
4TH: Ricardo Salazar
Montreal Impact vs. Toronto FC
Stade Saputo (5 pm ET)
REFEREE: ARMANDO VILLARREAL
AR1: Daniel Belleau
AR2: Danny Thornberry
4TH: Mathieu Bourdeau
New York Red Bulls vs. New England Revolution
Red Bull Arena (7 pm ET)
REFEREE: ALLEN CHAPMAN
AR1: Adam Wienckowski
AR2: Peter Balciunas
4TH: Daniel Fitzgerald
Chicago Fire vs. Columbus Crew
Toyota Park (8:30 pm ET)
REFEREE: SILVIU PETRESCU
AR1: James Conlee
AR2: Mark Cahen
4TH: Jose Carlos Rivero
Colorado Rapids vs. Real Salt Lake
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (9 pm ET)
REFEREE: BALDOMERO TOLEDO
AR1: Adam Garner
AR2: Anthony R. Vasoli
4TH: Younes Marrakchi
San Jose Earthquakes vs. Seattle Sounders
Levi’s Stadium (10:30 pm ET)
REFEREE: ISMAIL ELFATH
AR1: Frank Anderson
AR2: Corey Parker
4TH: Alejandro Mariscal
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3
Houston Dynamo vs. DC United
BBVA Compass Stadium (8 pm ET)
REFEREE: EDVIN JURISEVIC
AR1: George Gansner
AR2: Jonathan Johnson
4TH: Sorin Stoica
Chivas USA vs. FC Dallas
StubHub Center (10 pm ET)
REFEREE: RICARDO SALAZAR
AR1: Fabio Tovar
AR2: Mike Kampmeinert
4TH: Kevin Stott
