Stavridis: “FINA took the right direction”

 

Giorgos Stavridis is one of the greatest referees in the world – he refereed the Olympic final in Rio de Janeiro 2016 -, but he arrived at the HaBaWaBa International Festival for another reason. “My kids Haris and Eirini play with Italian Club Aquatico Pescara (coached by Vasko Vuckovic, ed) – the Greek referee, who deals with personal banking outside the pools, said -. I’ve seen a lot of people here and I think that it’s a fantastic event for our sport. HaBaWaBa has a great organization. Their referees? There are many 20-year-old guys who have a real future in our sport”.

The conversation with Stavridis turns to the changing process of waterpolo, started at Budapest World Conference, and to the idea – explained to WPDWorld also by the President of the FINA WPTC Manuel Ibern – of having an exact definition of what a foul is. “One of the main problems of waterpolo is that the opinion of the referees interferes with the game. Therefore it’s important to write down the limit of a foul, so the players can know precisely how much they can push the opponent or how much they can fight”. Stavridis also agrees with FINA’s idea of making a rule videobook. “It’s an excellent idea, in waterpolo it is not easy to transfer informations to young referees and that can be a good solution”.

In Budapest there was also Boris Margeta, Stavridis’ colleague, sitting at the table and representing the World Water Polo Referees Association. In Greek referee’s opinion, waterpolo can no longer wait to modernize. “It’s the right time to change – Stavridis said -, we need to change in order to adapt to the market. It’s the only way, because nobody can control the market. And trust me, my work is in a bank, I know that good”.