KAE Panathinaikos: “The time has finally come for refereeing to become professional”

Millions are being invested and our country has the European Champion Panathinaikos, as well as the Olympiakos team participating in F4, while also having nine representatives in European competitions.

At the same time, all the GBL teams are making a major effort to upgrade the product moving into a professional context.

Basketball in our country is undeniably on the rise, that’s why it is required to have an arbitration corresponding to this.

However, the level of Greek refereeing does not seem high enough to follow that of the investments made in Greek basketball as a whole. This is proven by the admittedly mediocre performance of referees in a number of games, but also by the absence of new faces in this area. The latter makes difficult the very operation of the Central Arbitration Committee, which is forced to choose repeatedly by itself “tank” of referees -proceeding at the same time to ephemeral solutions, such as increasing the age limits- through a system of appointing referees without solid criteria and explicit conditions in advance, as it is up to its uncontrolled judgment whether to appoint directly or by drawing lots.

It is now obvious that the current mode of operation of the KED and the maintenance of its affiliation to the Hellenic Basketball Federation prevents full growth and upgrading professional basketball.

We believe that the moment has FINALLY come in a professional and competitive Championship, for refereeing to become professional too, passing to the responsibility of the GB Teams CooperativeL, which are also the ones making the biggest investments, operate as joint-stock companies and for this reason they can work together in the right direction and solve an issue that is absolutely crucial for them. The same happened in corresponding cases of advanced leagues, with Spain’s ACB as a prime example.

This is also the only way for it to exist absolute transparency, stability and development.

Since the EEC does not have decisive authority over the administration, organization and management of the professional league and does not decide on the formulation of the commercial strategy of the league, it is not consistent and reasonable to decide on one of the most important factors of the game, especially with way that creates uncertainty and does not promote the upgrading of the product of professional basketball.

How can we expect the Hellenic Basketball Federation, which is not competent to decide anything related to the future of the GBL, to focus enough to resolve the complex issue of Greek arbitration more than the shareholders of the cooperative themselves, especially since he hasn’t done it to date while he’s had the chance? In fact, the EEC itself only stands to gain from this, as it could get rid of such a thorny issue unscathed, in order to focus on amateur sports and especially children, as it has often claimed that it is primarily interested in.

Due to all of the aforementioned and with a view to creating an even more competitive and investment-friendly environment, KAE Panathinaikos AKTOR clearly proposes the affiliation of the Central Arbitration Committee to ESAKE, as the most competent and capable body to provide a solution to this troubled issue.