By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Ukrainian referee Boris Ryzhyk will continue his work in the Italian LegaBasket following the initiative of Italian Basketball Federation President Giovanni Petrucci to include him on the list of officials.
Ryzhyk, 45, also a EuroLeague Basketball referee, was the first to raise awareness about the war in Ukraine in the competition, with a sign that read “Stop War” before the game between Olympiacos and Olimpia Milan in Piraeus, on the day of the invasion, February 24.
“The idea came from my heart. It was and is a war of aggression. I do not agree but I can somehow understand a war where soldiers kill other soldiers, not one where women, children, and old people are killed”, the referee mentioned about his initiative to hold the sign.
“I was lost. For days and days”, Ryzhyk told Corriere della Sera, as adapted by fip.it. “Then I thought that life goes on, that who knows how long the war will last and that we must do”
“War is death, doing your job is life”, he added. “I have been a professional referee since 1992, international since 1997. I have had many contacts with Italian basketball, I know its history. […] I follow the international news every day. I saw that the Italians are in solidarity with the Ukrainians and I thank them.”
Ryzhyk will be able to officiate both in the remaining games of the LegaBasket regular season and the playoffs of the league.