By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The 2023 EuroLeague Head Coaches Board Congress in Antalya made history, not only for the participation of several EuroLeague figures like President Dejan Bodiroga and Sports Director Ibrahim Erkan but also because it saw the presence of both coaches and referees.
During the Congress, in fact, one meeting involved EHCB members like former President Zeljko Obradovic, and Ettore Messina, and the Union of EuroLeague officials members like President Sreten Radovic and Secretary General Ioannis Foufis.
As per the EHCB’s official statement on the matter, “It was a historic event for the EuroLeague and also for European basketball. For the first time ever coaches and referees joined forces at a clinic and explained to the audience the philosophy of calls in what is expected to be the first step on a long-term collaboration with EuroLeague management’s blessings”.
Zeljko Obradovic joked at the beginning of the joint panel. “We are older than other members, that’s why they put us here to fight with the refs”, the legendary Serbian coach commented. “We are judging clips, while the referees must take decisions in real-time”, Ettore Messina followed before UEBO member Alberto Baena gave his own masterclass during the EHCB Coaches Congress clinic, explaining the use of the instant replay system in the EuroLeague.
“We want always to make the right call, but obviously mistakes are going to happen”, UEBO’s Secretary General Ioannis Foufis said, while Sreten Radovic made it even more obvious taking with numbers: “We are three referees, and in every game, we make approximately 120 decisions each for a total of 360 calls. If each one of us makes six wrong calls in each game, then we get in total 18 mistakes per game. However, this means that we are 95% correct in our decisions. So what would you say to a player who is shooting 95% in free throws?”.
For the first time ever @theUEBO was invited on the EHCB Coaches Congress with President Sreten Radovic and Secretary General Ioannis Foufis sharing the floor with Zeljko Obradovic and Ettore Messina on a panel discussion about #EuroLeague refereeing. pic.twitter.com/WkRnGI1Iso
— EuroLeague Head Coaches Board – EHCB (@HeadCoachesOrg) July 2, 2023