OFFICIATING

January has been one busy month for the FIBA Europe Referees Department as it continues on its mission to offer advice and valuable insight to the different member Federations seeking to expand their educational programmes for game officials.

It was within that framework that the Department's Alan Richardson was invited by the Serbia Basketball Federation to visit Belgrade help them with the restructuring of their referee training programmes.

He met with Vice-Presidents Dejan Tomasevic (Competitions and Referees) and Dejan Bodiroga (Men's Basketball) as well as with Secretary General Andrija Kleut, offering advice of a future road map that will help the Federation achieve its goals with regard to further development of referee training.

In a statement to FIBA Europe the Federation Secretary General Andrija Kleut was appreciative of Richardson's presence in Belgrade.

"Mr. Richardson showed great understanding of the current situation, offered practical solutions, while his insights were very helpful to us all," wrote Kleut.

"We strongly believe that his comments, advices and suggestions will be thoroughly reviewed, taken into serious consideration and applied in the best way possible.

"His presentation was very comprehensive, practical, with clear explanations."