The President of the Bulgarian Basketball Federation Konstantin Papazov commented on the tension between him and the Chairman of the Referees' Commission Orlin Nikolov. In an interview with BGBasket, he told how the disagreement in their positions came about, what the two discussed and what changes could follow in the work of the referees.
Papazov believes that the conflict has received too much public attention. He confirmed that he had sought out Nikolov with a desire to review a controversial situation from a basketball match, but the conversation quickly turned into a serious argument. According to him, the chairman of the Refereeing Commission explained that he did not have a working internet connection and could not watch the episode in question.
The head of the federation revealed that in the first rounds of the season he had talked to the coaches to gather opinions about the refereeing. First, he sought out the coaches of the losing teams, as he expected them to have more claims, but he also contacted representatives of the winners.
According to Papazov, the conversations showed that the assessments of the referees were different. Some coaches acknowledged the existence of mistakes, but specified that they did not have a decisive influence on the final result. Others also expressed dissatisfaction, despite the fact that their teams had won.
The president's initial position was that refereeing mistakes should lead to stricter control and sanctions. After a lengthy conversation, however, Orlin Nikolov managed to convince him that one should not automatically seek a punitive approach for every inaccuracy.
Papazov pointed out that referees are also human and do not deserve constant criticism for their every decision. He explained that according to Nikolov, refereeing errors in basketball are not intentional, but are the result of the human factor. The president of the federation said that he accepts this argument.
The two also discussed the need for referees to be protected from pressure from clubs. Papazov expressed his readiness to support such an approach and to give the referees the opportunity to work calmly, without the team managements interfering in their decisions.
“I will try to have full credit of trust in them for one year, I hope they will justify it“, said Papazov, summarizing his new position.
As a next step, he suggested organizing a meeting with the coaches, and if desired, with the club presidents. The idea is to hold the conversation after the election of a new Referee Commission and to help improve communication between the referees and the participants in the championship.
Thus, after the initial tension, Papazov expressed his readiness to give the refereeing a chance to work with greater trust and less external pressure.