When EuroBasket 2025 tips off in a few hours, the focus won't only be on Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, or the NBA stars representing their countries.
A quieter but equally decisive group will shape the tournament: the referees.
EuroBasket has always been a pressure cooker for officials. Unlike club competitions, every game is fueled by national pride, amplified emotions, and rosters stacked with EuroLeague and NBA players.
Managing that level of intensity requires referees not only to enforce the rulebook but also to control the rhythm, manage egos, and make split-second calls under enormous scrutiny.
The 2025 edition will see 40 European referees from 24 countries, bolstered by five international guests, including two NBA officials.
Most are seasoned veterans — 33 worked in EuroBasket 2022, and nearly half have FIBA World Cup experience.
Before play begins, they undergo a three-day clinic in Riga designed to align their interpretations and guidelines for contact, behavior, and game management.
Credit KZS/alesfevzer.com
But even with training, the job is daunting. From handling foul-drawing tricks to ensuring consistency in late-game calls, EuroBasket referees are expected to operate at a level above what they face in domestic leagues or even the EuroLeague.
Hence, the margin for error shrinks further.
To preview the officiating landscape, BasketNews sat down with Todd Warnick, who spent decades refereeing in Israel and internationally before becoming a referee consultant and evaluator for FIBA, EuroLeague, and Israel's basketball federation.
Now contributing as BasketNews' officiating consultant, Warnick explains how prepared this group is, what challenges they'll face, and why communication — both with teams and within the officiating crews — may define the tournament's success.
EuroBasket 2025: Level, preparedness & style
**How prepared are the referees for EuroBasket 2025 compared to EuroLeague standards? What are the main differences in quality, style, and consistency that fans and teams should expect?**EuroBasket 2025 referees are on paper a highly experienced group. Of the 40 European referees nominated, 33 officiated in EuroBasket 2022, and include 19 who refereed in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
An additional five referees from outside of Europe have also been nominated – all of whom have significant international experience, including two NBA referees.
The referees have a three-day clinic in Riga before the tournament. From there, they will be dispersed to the various sites.
Theoretically, for an experienced group of referees, this should be sufficient. However, EuroBasket is a very different challenge due to the unusually high level of play and emotions involved.
Some of these referees will also be newly thrust into crew chief/leadership roles, and they're going to have to step up their game in every way.
In addition, one would hope that FIBA has also communicated clearly to not only the referees but also to teams the guidelines that will be used throughout the tournament for contact and behavioral situations.
Credit FIBA Media
For a successful tournament, everyone needs to be on the same page.
FIBA and EuroLeague referees work virtually the same in all aspects, including rules, mechanics, signals, etc.
FIBA and EuroLeague referees also work together in their home countries. And while referee training and clinics are great, just like players, it all comes down to one thing: execution on the court.
**What are the main challenges referees face when transitioning from BCL and national championships to FIBA tournaments like EuroBasket — different rules, game rhythm, or the way players/coaches interact with them?**EuroBasket is very different than FIBA's BCL and national championships.
Every team is a collection of "all-stars" from that country, and most squads include multiple EuroLeague and NBA players.
These are also national team games, and they are played in an atmosphere full of emotions that don't exist in any league.
FIBA referees are required to take their skills to a higher level in EuroBasket. It's a very big leap to go from BCL and even a top basketball country to refereeing a lot of the best players in the world in a charged atmosphere.
The challenge is not just in play-calling, but also managing the emotions and egos of these top players and coaches.
**Will EuroBasket 2025 expose the gap in referee levels across Europe? Some federations produce top refs while others struggle — how does FIBA manage that imbalance in a flagship event?**FIBA presumably nominated their top 40 European referees from 24 countries and added to the mix another five from outside the continent.
Some countries are obviously more represented than others.
Spain leads the way with four nominations; Turkiye and Poland have three referees at the tournament, as do Lithuania and Latvia – small countries with strong basketball and strong referee development programs.
Notably, France, Serbia, Croatia, and Italy have two participating referees, and Greece, Slovenia, Israel, and Germany have one each. Draw your own conclusions.
**EuroLeague referees have been banned from FIBA since the beginning of the 2017-18 season. Would EuroLeague referees be helpful in this tournament?**Obviously, in some cases, yes.
But given EuroLeague officiating problems the past two seasons – refereeing many of the same players who will appear in EuroBasket – nobody is complaining about their absence.
Credit David Grau/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images
Referees everywhere are under the magnifying glass. Technology has made sure of that.
With multiple cameras, multiple angles, and replays, it all gets scrutinized. Of course, late game calls in close games will draw special attention, as well as the interaction between referees and players, especially high visibility stars such as Giannis and Luka.
**Do referees adjust differently for "superstar treatment" in FIBA tournaments compared to the EuroLeague? Should fans expect certain players to get more respect — and who are those players?**As someone who has refereed for over 30 years and been involved in the game for more than 50 years, with extensive experience in thousands of situations involving referees, I believe the idea of "superstar treatment" is a myth.
Having said that, I would note that top players are statistically involved in a lot more situations than others, so the possibilities of correct and incorrect decisions are greater.
Like with any other player, referees need to get their calls right, no matter who it is.
Refereeing of specific players and situations
**Some players are known for taking shots mainly to elicit foul calls. How should referees handle those situations fairly?**FIBA must take care of these "unnatural shooting motions" ("manufactured shots")!
It's absurd watching offensive players in transition, 10 and even 20 meters from the basket, "baiting" an opponent into contact and then throwing the ball towards the basket – and getting three shots.
The NBA took care of this starting in 2021, but Europe has not followed suit – and I would argue that they are not even interpreting the FIBA act of shooting rule correctly.
The EuroLeague did a horrifically inconsistent job with these situations this past season, and FIBA really needs to step in and put a stop to this.
Examples of unnatural moves that referees need to be aware of also include launching or leaning into a defender at an abnormal angle, abruptly veering into a defender, or kicking one's legs out unnaturally to initiate contact.
If referees are going to give 3 shots on these perimeter plays, the offensive player has to be 100% in his shooting motion as defined by the rule. Period.
Credit FIBA
**Which EuroBasket 2025 players are masters at drawing fouls or manipulating refs? Who should officials pay special attention to based on history?**There's a bit of a parent-child relationship between referees and players on the court. Players will do what you allow them to do.
Here's a positive example: EuroLeague referees have done a very good job in recent years on cracking down on illegal screens. So, what happened? Players, for the most part, stopped screening illegally! Amazing how that works.
Here's another idea for coaches and players to get on the referees' good side and also improve communications: learn the referees' names!
Stop calling them "Hey, ref".
Every referee knows the coaches' and players' names – it's about time they started learning the referees' names.
Current NBA Vice President for referees Monty McCutchen always forced players to call him by his name – and I know plenty of EuroLeague referees who do the same.
It also lowers the friction level on the court and creates a better working atmosphere.
**Do referees study players' tendencies and habits to prepare for games, or do they prefer to keep a neutral mindset?**Of course, they do.
You don't want to enter the game with a "bias", but you most certainly want to understand matchups and tendencies between teams and among players.
I don't know any referees anywhere who don't "scout" and watch video before any given game, whether it's the NBA, national league, BCL, Euroleague, or EuroBasket 2025.
In many places, there is a game-day meeting after breakfast, where all these things are discussed, and the referees begin their mental preparation for the game.
**How should referees manage physical superstars like Giannis? Balancing their unique athleticism with fairness to defenders is a constant challenge.**You don't want to penalize a player unfairly by not calling a foul because he makes an athletic move that puts his opponent at a disadvantage.
Obviously, Giannis, Luka, and many others are big stars because they are able to use their skills to their advantage, and in doing so, if they get fouled – according to criteria that is hopefully consistently applied – then that's to their benefit.
Credit FIBA Media
**How do EuroLeague and FIBA referees differ in handling protests from coaches and players? Is there more tolerance in one system than the other?**There isn't much of a difference in how EuroLeague and FIBA referees handle protests from coaches and players.
Instead, we should be looking (and in a not positive way) at what is happening in the NBA. Their referees are instructed not to respond with technical fouls to "heat of the moment" reactions, referring to players who have spontaneous, emotional outbursts after a call (or no call).
They've carried this philosophy too far, and we now see extended outbursts by NBA players in way too many situations.
What happens in the NBA also quickly reaches Europe. Anyone who has watched any of the exhibition games leading up to EuroBasket 2025 has witnessed a significant amount of arguing and poor behavior by players.
Unless the referees are instructed differently, this is going to be a huge headache during the tournament.
Also, the aesthetic of watching NBA players jump from the bench into the court and baseline area every time a teammate hits a 3-point shot, dunks, or makes a good play is absurd and ugly.
Fortunately, this nasty habit has not reached Europe – yet.
Credit Christian Petersen / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
**Should referees use video review more often, or is it already slowing down the game too much? Where's the right balance?**There's no stopping technology, and there won't be any stopping of video review either.
The technology is there to help the referees make correct decisions for the game.
Fans like to complain about it, but they also wouldn't have it any other way, especially on close shots at the end of quarters or the game. All we can ask is that the referees expedite their reviews as quickly as possible.
**Do referees consciously adjust their style in late-game situations, knowing how much is at stake? Should they?**I'm never sure what this means. Are referees not supposed to penalize a player for a foul if the score is tied with one second left? And then who are you penalizing?
The team that should have received the free throws?
It's the players who determine the game with their actions – the referees are there to determine if those actions are legal or not.
What is "physical defense" in crunch time? Are we now allowing players to get handchecked on drives? Shoved in the post?
An illegal screen we called in the third quarter doesn't get called with 1:30 left in the game? When is "crunch time" as opposed to "regular time"?
This is "fan" vocabulary and not concepts with which referees are familiar.
The profession and its future
Many federations appear to struggle in producing elite referees. Is that due to lack of training, poor incentives, or political interference?
**Why do talented young refs often stall or leave after a few years? Is it burnout, financial strain, or lack of opportunities to advance?**Εconomically speaking, basketball officiating can still be a viable career path for Eastern European referees, though that is also changing.
For Western European referees, it has become an increasingly challenging career path unless they can find a way to combine a job or other source of income with their officiating.
Both FIBA and the EuroLeague must be more concerned with the shortage of referees in general and of elite referees in particular.
Credit Vangelis Stolis
Sure, training levels and politics can play varying roles depending on the country (though referees are already quite well incentivized at the national league level). Still, the overall problem seems to be societal.
It currently takes several years and a considerable amount of experience to become an elite referee, first within your country and then, subsequently, at the international level.
Young people have far more options available to them, and in our modern world, they don't have the patience to wait the 10-15 years that it likely takes to reach the top officiating levels.
Not so long ago (the 1990s), if you had 10-12 international nominations and a tournament in the summer, that was an amazing season. And obtaining a video of your game was like finding gold.
Nowadays, at least 15-20 trips in a season and a couple of summer tournaments are more likely the norm.
There are also a lot more meetings, clinics, and, of course, there is always video to review.
A lot of people find it impossible to find an employer (or a family) that will allow you to hold down a job and maintain that kind of schedule.
If you're not quickly getting to the top levels of European basketball, a lot of referees are doing their own personal cost-benefit analysis.
These referees are making the calculation that they're better off officiating only on weekends in national competitions, where the travel is shorter, the game fees are generally quite reasonable, and you keep your vacation days.
Since you're not going to change society, federations in cooperation with FIBA will have to incentivize talented young people to stay in the refereeing profession.
That also means accelerated training and promotion as well. There's no easy answer, but without any changes, AI will become the solution and take over officiating in the not so distant future.
Giorgos Kyriakidis
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