The referee who ruled for Tempi is emotional: “There is no greater pain than losing a child”

Elena Daniilidou bowed during the one-minute silence for the tragedy of Tempi, in Pegasus’ match against Kifissia of the Volley League.

The international referee spoke on the show “Sports World” about the emotional charge she felt and about the fact that she (she and the two teams) were called to the playing fields a few days after the incident:

“One of the most difficult moments, especially when we talk about the loss of young people. When you now get out of the ego phase, when you have children you see what it’s like to lose a child. And when you put yourself in the shoes of children who lose their child. The pain is great. And just the idea that you can lose a young person, who has dreams, who is starting his life… I’m not discounting the loss of older people, but think about losing your child… there is no greater pain. So many young people leaving so unjustly and one blaming the other. And finally, to reach the tip of the iceberg and tell why. Why has all this happened? Why haven’t I spoken sooner? Why haven’t I complained? Why haven’t I said this is wrong? Why did I close my eyes? Why didn’t I speak? It’s a lot at that moment. It’s a big psychological burden, especially when you’re talking about young people, who have a future ahead of them. Unfortunately… other times the camera doesn’t engage with the referees. It happened and you caught me“, he initially reported.

On whether it was too early to play games:It’s true, fortunately or unfortunately others decide on them. It was very fresh. I don’t know if we could have managed it any other way. There are the federations, the minister of sports, who define these. I think they put it down and decided what was best for the situation».

On whether he discussed with the athletes: “We didn’t get into that process, unfortunately we had to concentrate on the game, which was important for both teams. We all did our best given the circumstances».

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