January 29, 2011

17 Indian referees currently hold the FIBA license



They might not get the attention saved for the talented athletes on court or for the mastermind coaches on the sidelines, but it is no secret that good referees are the ones who truly run the show at a basketball game. The efforts of these hardworking individuals haven’t gone unnoticed, as 17 Indians currently hold FIBA’s official referee license.

Over the past year, many of our officials have made a mark on the international stage. In July 2010, West Bengal’s experienced ref Atanu Banerjee became the first Indian to officiate the final of a World Championship Game, as he was a referee at the FIBA U17 World Championship Final in France. In November the same year, another Indian referee made the country proud. Rameshkumar Durairaju from Tamil Nadu became the first Indian referee since 1982 to officiate an Asian Games basketball final, as he was the ref at the women’s final game at the Asian Games in Guangzhou (China).

This is the full list of Indian referees holding the FIBA license:

  • Atanu Banerjee
  • Sharad Vasant Bansode
  • Snehal Bendke
  • Peter Sonthosh Divaker
  • Rameshkumar Durairaju
  • John Anil Devanand Eluka
  • Zanim Mohamed Hashim
  • Manoj Subbayya Kotian
  • Harish Kumar
  • Shiba Maggon
  • Amarjot Singh Mavi
  • Rajnarayan Patro
  • Prakash Paquiaraj Sandou
  • Somasundaramoorthy Shanmugasundaram
  • Gens Varghese Vadayattu
  • Rajan Vellingirinathan
  • Ceciline Michael Vino

    For aspiring FIBA refs, the Sri Lankan Basketball Federation is organising the FIBA Asia Referee Clinic from February 11-14th, 2011, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The clinic will be conducted by Lubomir Kotleba, the FIBA Sports Director. A part of this programme will consist of a clinic for new FIBA referee candidates. You can find more information about the clinic here.

    There are a total of 287 FIBA referees in Asia. China leads the way with 28.

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