Luigi Lamonica, one of the greatest referees in the history of European basketball and, from 2022, the Commissioner for referees of the FIP, explained, in an interview granted to Tuttosport on 19 September, the correct functioning of the Instant Replay at the end of the whistle gathering Italians who are preparing for the 2023-24 season with really interesting attendance numbers and recovering after the drops due to Covid: “There are 230 national referees, divided between 33 in Serie A, around 72-74 in A2, the rest in Serie B.” His words.
“Many rules have been modeled on the IR, in Italy we were the first to use the technology in 2005. And the championship was decided with Douglas’ basket for Fortitudo. This year Legabasket has made a huge effort, with the ‘Instant replay center in Cologno Monzese with Eleven, going from 4 to 7 cameras plus one. We went from 2’ on average to a little less than 60″ for a decision thanks to more cameras, better positioned, used by the same technicians, different graphics. Then the microphone came to the referees to explain to the public. And communication helps to make us better known and therefore accepted, it helps the public to understand how difficult it is. More IR cases? The NBA is reducing them, the Euroleague 16, we nine-ten and we change some.”
Which? “Three: If a coach wins the first challenge, he can have another one. Then the defensive semicircle, the referee in the last 2′ can see if the position is legal. And if he has seen an attacking foul, he can change his decision, it happened for example when reanalyzing a whistle in the championship final. The third case is the violation of the shot clock which was possible in the last 2′ for the referees. To improve use and understanding we hold meetings with coaches, players, managers, we plan to go with one, two referees and our manager in the clubs talking. If you get close, you understand each other’s states of mind.”
