Panathinaikos: “Greek basketball is moving forward and the refereeing is unable to follow – To become professional”

As you well know, according to articles 47 and 48 of Law 2725/1999, both for the introduction of the professional arbitration system and for the drawing up of the relevant regulation that will regulate all kinds of issues that will concern it, a decision of the Hellenic Basketball Federation (E.O.K.), following the opinion of the Hellenic Basketball Referees Federation (ODKE) and the Hellenic Association of Anonymous Basketball Societies (E.S.A.K.E.). In particular:

A) Paragraph 1 of article 47 of Law 2725/1999 states that “By decision of the Board of Directors of the relevant sports federation, following the opinion of the relevant professional association and the relevant referees’ federation, a system of professional refereeing is introduced for the needs of national championship matches of a professional nature”

B) Paragraph 1 of article 48 of Law 2725/1999 states that “By decision of the Board of Directors of the relevant sports federation, following the opinion of the relevant federation of referees and the relevant professional association of sports limited companies, a special regulation is drawn up which regulates all kinds of issues concerning Professional refereeing.”

It is an undeniable fact that professional basketball is moving towards the future with rapid steps, as evidenced by the continuous successes of the Greek teams in the European competitions, the increase in the interest of the fans (attendance at the stadiums, spectacle of televised matches, content exclusively dedicated to basketball on numerous websites, broadcasts, social media), the commercial development of the product through the ever-increasing inflow of sponsorship funds and investments, the improvement of the grounds and the return to the high level of historical teams. One of the few factors in Greek basketball that is unable to follow the above progress seems to be the Greek arbitration for which all of the above bodies, as well as the K.A.E. – members of E.S.A.K.E. have acknowledged – either publicly or privately – that it is plagued by multitude of pathogens that need correction in order for it to function at the highest level.

Among many others, we suggest the following, which you already know. Fewer and fewer new referees are entering the field, as they are unable to make a living from refereeing and have to have another main job, which does not allow them to devote themselves to refereeing and devote time to their ongoing education and training. As a result, their performance ranges from low to mediocre, as evidenced by both the constant complaints from all teams and the almost complete absence of Greek referees from international National Team and Club competitions (only one at EuroBasket 2022 and World Cup 2023, none in the last Olympics, none in the Final4 of Euroleague and FIBA ​​Champions League in recent years). In addition to the above, the absence sufficient number of suitable and experienced referees forces the Central Arbitration Commission on the one hand to appoint arbitrators from the same limited pool, on the other hand to annually extend the legal age limitsin order to keep them active, as many of them have outgrown them. Finally, the operation of the Central Arbitration Committee itself suffers, as – in addition to the aforementioned – the relevant regulation allows it to choose the system of appointment (sometimes by lottery, sometimes directly appointed, etc.) at its uncontrolled discretion without solid criteria and in advance express conditions.

All agencies must take the next step and move from recognizing the problem to solving it. The only way to achieve this goal is the introduction of the professional arbitration system and its operation under a regime of complete autonomy and independence. The system of professional refereeing will lead to improved performance of referees through the introduction of systems of continuous training and education – as arbitrators will devote the maximum of their employment to arbitration and will not be forced to practice it in addition to the profession from which they now make a living – as well as an increase in their fees. The above, in combination with introduction of a transparent and stable system of evaluation and designation of refereeswill contribute to the objectivity and credibility of the league, will reduce the uncertainty and negative attitude of teams and fans and will lead to the further upgrading and development of the professional basketball product. A professional league, in which professional teams and professional athletes participate, must also have professional referees. The success of the system of professional refereeing is indisputable, as demonstrated by the examples of advanced basketball leagues of other venues (Spain, Euroleague, etc) and the domestic football league, which adopted it.

For the above reasons, we request that you take the necessary actions to resolve this matter complex and vexed issue and to immediately initiate the relevant process to introduce the system of professional refereeing in the sport of basketball, as prescribed by law.