Hilario Grajeda to officiate MLS Cup at Sporting Park

Hilario Grajeda

The Professional Referee Organization (PRO) announced on Monday that Hilario Grajeda will be the referee for the 2013 MLS Cup Final between Sporting KC and Real Salt Lake at Sporting Park. Grajeda will be joined by Paul Scott and Bill Dittmar as assistant referees and Ismail Elfath as the fourth official. The match will kick off at 3 p.m. CT on December 7 and can be seen live on ESPN and UniMas.


According to Major League Soccer, Grajeda has refereed 23 MLS regular season games in 2013 including the April 27 match between Sporting KC and the Portland Timbers at Sporting Park. In that match, Grajeda called 28 total fouls and handed out three yellow cards (no red cards).


In Grajeda's 23 regular season matches, he has called 533 fouls (23.2 per game) and handed out 63 yellow cards (2.7 per game) and four red cards. In addition, the 46-year-old official has called three penalty kicks in 2013.


Grajeda, an MLS Referee of the Year finalist, was also the man in the middle (along with Scott and Dittmar as the ARs) for the 2013 MLS All-Star Game at Sporting Park. The veteran official has refereed one MLS Playoff game in 2013, the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinal series between the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers. In that match, he called 35 fouls and handed out four yellow cards.