Cork referee Alan Kelly is to take up a full-time position in America with the MLS after his final game in Ireland's Airtricity League last weekend.

Kelly has been appointed as the new assistant training and development manager with the Professional Referee Organization and may continue his refereeing career in America.

A FIFA referee since 2002, he is looking forward to the challenge.

Kelly said, “This is a very exciting opportunity for me on a professional level.

“To work with a full-time professional organization and dedicate my time to refereeing, be it from an education and development perspective or on the field of play, is something that I have always aspired to and it is an opportunity that myself and my family are very much looking forward to.

“Leaving the Airtricity League and UEFA is something that I had not thought about and it was an incredibly difficult decision to make.

“However, once I found that this opportunity offers a very different challenge, it would have been a regret that would have followed me around had I not accepted it.”