By Semih Tuna / info@eurohoops.net
After losing to Hapoel Jerusalem in the second match of the Basketball Champions League regular season, Galatasaray Ekmas filed a complaint regarding officiating, preparing a 10-minute video highlighting the referees’ performance.
Sources close to the Galatasaray management revealed that, following this objection, the Basketball Champions League acknowledged the referees’ mistake. Consequently, the league decided not to assign the three referees who officiated the match until the play-in phase of the tournament.
During the press conference, Galatasaray’s coach Zvezdan Mitrovic expressed strong dissatisfaction with the referee management of the game.
“What happened on the field today was simply disgusting. I say it frankly, it was disgusting. I am calling out to the head of FIBA; you should look at what is happening in your tournament. I am sorry for what I said, but the players are fighting to the end on the field. Today, the outcome of the match was decided by the referees, not the players. I’m telling you, the referees determined the result. Penalize me if you want, I can handle it. What happened on the field today had nothing to do with sports. There was absolutely no standard in the decisions made. I repeat, the head of FIBA needs to watch this match in detail. If I am going to be punished for what I said, others should be punished too,” Mitrovic declared.
In solidarity with their coach, Galatasaray filed a complaint, apparently leading to the temporary suspension of the trio of referees from the game played behind closed doors in Belgrade.