By Stefan Acevski / info@eurohoops.net
Euroleague Basketball held its 27th Preseason Clinic for Officials at the DoubleTree by Hilton Wroclaw, bringing referees, coaches and league representatives together in Poland for four days of preparation ahead of the new season.
This year’s edition welcomed 84 referees, including 16 first-timers – Tolga Akkusoglu (Turkiye), Joaquin Garcia Gonzalez (Spain), Edoardo Gonella (Italy), Cisil Gungor (Turkiye), Dogu Berk Innal (Germany), Ignas Jablonskas (Lithuania), Dovydas Kairys (Lithuania), Karol Kowalski (Finland), Christopher Lemaire (France), Vojislav Lepetic (Montenegro), Matteo Lucotti (Italy), Silvia Marziali (Italy), Marko Mustapic (Croatia), Jaroslav Pazourek (Czech Republic), Alberto Sanchez Sixto (Spain) and Ioannis Tsimpouris (Greece) – together with 18 referee coaches, three of whom were also attending for the first time: Caslav Cukalovic (Serbia), Benjamin Jimenez (Spain) and Rustu Nuran (Turkiye).
Representatives from the ABA League and the VTB League also attended this year’s clinic.
The opening session brought remarks from Euroleague Basketball President Dejan Bodiroga, Chief Executive Officer Jesus Bueno (joining online), and Officiating Director Daniel Hierrezuelo, who was leading the clinic for the fourth time. Also on hand across the four days were former Senior Director and Officiating Scouting & Recruitment Supervisor Costas Rigas, Real Madrid head coach Pedro Martinez, EuroLeague Head Coaches Board Vice President Sergio Scariolo, Executive Director Goran Sacic, Officiating Sports Psychologist Mar Rovira and Officiating Physical Conditioning & Training Coach Gianluca Mazzoncini.
Over the four days, participants worked through fitness testing, a rules test, and updates on statistics and IRS rule changes, alongside a presentation from Costas Rigas, a head coach session with Pedro Martinez, and a talk from former EuroLeague player Bostjan Nachbar.
Breakout sessions split the group across IRS practice and video analysis tracks covering AOS, mechanics, disruptive and flagrant fouls, and block/charge, cylinder and path plays, with a team-building activity rounding out the program.
The clinic wrapped up on Sunday with a session on teamwork, communication and marginal calls and a closing address, both led by Hierrezuelo, followed by an optional IRS practice run by Asimina Stamatiou.
The Wroclaw clinic marked another step in Euroleague Basketball’s ongoing effort to raise officiating standards and have its referees ready for the new season.
Make