Since the start of his new mission last June, Eddie Viator did not speak to the media. Today, the new National Director of Arbitration speaks for the first time about his new assumption of duty.
New job, new tasks
“I have trained referees for many years all over France. I don’t necessarily miss refereeing as I would have thought ” Eddie Viator tells us. In addition to watching more matches than before – every day he watches all nine Betclic Elite games, plus two or three from BCL and EuroLeague! -, he does not hesitate to move in the rooms to see the referees officiating on their meetings. Accompanied by an earpiece to hear the discussions of the referee trio live and stay in permanent contact with them, he is present in the stands but never communicates with the referees during the match. “I don’t observe them but I want them to feel that I am with them and that I am there to work with them. Then I debrief with them in the locker room. “.
Eddie Viator regularly visits theaters to watch officiating referees
(photo : Pauline Ledez – Referee Time)
From Betclic ELITE to Pro B, via the Women’s League and National 1, nearly 140 High Level referees are trained across the country. “The objective is to confirm the good performances of some and to allow others to improve their skills in their divisions. », the Francilien tells us. “We must allow those who must reach the highest level to do so in the best possible conditions and those who are already at the top to maintain a certain rigor and their status in our championships. »Eddie Viator has various and varied daily tasks, such as appointments to the Betclic Elite, Women’s League and Pro B divisions, the organization of courses for High Level referees, the relationship with the coaches of Betclic ELITE, Pro B and LFB, the training of HN referees and observers and extensive video work …
The pink outfit to support Pink October and the fight against breast cancer, an initiative of Eddie Viator
(photo : Teddy Picaudé)
A Roanne – Bourg chopped up because of the decisions of the referees? Eddie Viator answers.
To find out about everything that is happening, Eddie indicates to read the press « like every individual, professional or not, who is passionate about basketball. “. Also looking at what he is saying on social networks, the referee of the final of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio takes all the information that could be useful to him.
“I read that it would have been good if the show was done by the players and not by the referees. In my daily routine, I was going to watch this encounter And that’s what I did. It was a very enjoyable game to watch. I did note some statistics that spoke volumes: 43 fouls in total over the whole match. The average of a so-called “normal” match is between 40 and 45! The classic duration of a match is 1h40. There, we are at 1:45 with a few stops. During the match, there were several periods of play where it was not far from 1’30 minutes without a whistle. On average, there is a whistle every 32 seconds. Of the many games I have watched this season, this has been one of the least cut.
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After watching this meeting, Eddie Viator gives us his opinion on the arbitration of this Choir – JL: “There are three inventions and six omissions but above all ten no calls (situations which do not require the whistle from the referee because neither team is at a disadvantage) with good reason. In technical fouls, there are two that could have been avoided. I don’t know why the fact that there are six technical faults in the match is surprising when the technical fault is a rule on behavior or attitudes. When there are six marchers in a match, do you hear complaints that the match was chopped? No. The arbitrators simply applied one of the rules. Roanne put on a good show, Bourg was in trouble. But this so-called “beautiful spectacle” was not violated by the arbitration. “.
“The referees work at least 12h30 per week”
Finally, after reading in the columns of BeBasket that the referees would work only two hours in the week, the referee of the final of the Basketball Champions League 2020 and 2021 returns to this statement.
“Lately, I stumbled across an article in which it was said that referees only work two hours a week, unlike players who work four hours a day. I was surprised to read this in the media. Only someone who does not know the daily life of a High Level referee can say that. This is totally wrong. It is true, and it comes as no surprise to anyone, that umpires are unprofessional. In the title of their referee activity, they are not. But in the way they do things, they are all professionals. They all have a job, but they invest a lot. The first division referees who are not international train physically, have a weekly feedback developed by me, brief and debrief their meetings, watch the match of their choice, play and coach for some. This represents at least 12h30 of work! And when I read the article, a professional player practices 20 hours a week. So there is a difference of 7:30 a.m. with a professional player. So imagine if the referees were all pros – only 3 referees are professional today within the FFBB for which they are also trainers -! And for an international referee, I’ll spare you the details, but it’s a workload of more than 6.30 p.m. and they are twice as competitive from one week to another than the majority of the French Championship teams there. also without being pros … “
Eddie Viator during the pre-season camp in Lille
