On Friday, Finnish – and at the same time possibly European – sports history will be made, when for the first time a father-son duo of two generations acts as a referee in a major league level ball game in the same match.
A long-time basketball referee, the fifth one who has whistled the most Korisliiga games Miltos Ioannidis55, has already said before the current basketball season that the current season will be his last.
Miltos Ioannidis moved from Thessaloniki to Finland in 1997 and started refereeing the Korisliiga 21 years ago in 2003. On Friday, he will play the 777th league game of his career, and not just any match on an emotional level.
Son of a king judge Nikolaos Ioannidis24, started whistling in the main league last season, and tonight’s Korisliiga match is the 17th of his career, but it’s only the first time he acts as a referee in the same match with his father.
– It’s just a standard game like the others, although the match is at least more than usual in the mind beforehand. For me, no game is more or less important, Nikolaos “Niko” states and continues:
– I dare to say that my first league game was much more exciting than this one. When I leave the booth for the field, everything outside is forgotten. Then there’s no more tension.
“This is a bit like a dream for me”
Father is also not excited about the memorable evening ahead.
– One game among others, but of course the feeling of the day is special for me. I’ve been waiting for this for years, when “Niko” took small steps towards refereeing in the Korisliiga. It’s a great and big deal for me, Miltos father enthuses.
The hard-nosed referee emphasizes that the spectators, players or coaches are not even interested in referee matters, they only want to win, and that the match is played according to the correct rules.
– And this will also happen. No excitement on Friday, although the event is great for the whole family.
Miltos Ioannidis says he wasn’t sure before whether the father-son dream of refereeing in the same league match would ever come true.
– When I said that this season would be my last, I often wondered if such a dream would even come true. About a month ago, in January, I suddenly heard that this is going to happen. It’s a bit like a dream for me. There are few such great moments in life and this will be one of them for me!
As a joke, the wife would also be fine as a Basketball League judge
Nikolaos Ioannidis admits that judging together with his father initially started as an idea, mainly as a joke.
– When I once passed the referee license basic course, it was mainly joked that sometimes we would whistle together in the Korisliiga. At the time, it was just a throwaway, a distant dream.
– Little by little, when my level rose and I thought I was quite good as a judge, moment by moment the dream even started to turn into a goal at some stage. Now it finally becomes concrete, great thing!
Father Miltos Ioannidis, who works as a physical education teacher, also praises his wife’s knowledge of the sport in basketball, which started at the same time she became a referee in the Korisliiga in 2003.
– If my wife took the rules test, she would really do well at the Korisliiga level, says Miltos.
– At that time, I needed his help when I started learning to speak Finnish. He trained with me and really learned all the rules at the same time. My wife always watches all our basketball matches and sometimes – I don’t know if I can even say this out loud – there is a WhatsApp message at half-time about what she thinks about refereeing, laughs Miltos.
Quality time
The hobby of refereeing between father and son is a shared passion, and it is not hindered even by the fact that one lives in Vantaa and the other studies in Jyväskylä.
– Sometimes it also happens when we come home from different matches in Joensuu and Kouvola one night, so we have a glass of wine and watch the whole match on tape together with a phone connection. It takes three hours to analyze the entire match, father Miltos enthuses.
Ioannidis junior admits that they call each other daily, and most of the time the talk is about basketball.
– If we have games at different times during the day, it may be that phone calls are exchanged from morning to evening from ten to fifteen. We talk about the preliminaries to how the game went and at the same time we also discuss other matches.
– I think it’s quality time when we talk with Niko every day. I think it’s not just basketball we talk about, but more family stuff. I believe that this will continue for a long time, Miltos father accompanies.
Experience versus youth
The father no longer needs to give advice to his son, who is establishing his place as a Korisliiga judge.
– When Niko developed in his refereeing career and approached the league, we always discussed his games before the game. He asked all kinds of questions, and I told about preliminary stories, players and coaches. I didn’t advise him, we talked. Niko has his own personality, emphasizes the father.
– In theory, I should be a better judge than us, but today’s youth is only a hundred times better than we were at that time. Sometimes Niko points out to me that, father, you didn’t think about a certain thing in some strange case. At that time, I have to say that it really could have happened.
– Experience can only be gained through experience. The judge has to move forward one step at a time. In general, if you rush too much, you fall more easily, Miltos Ioannidis, who thrives under pressure, advises.
According to his father, the young and new generation basketball referee knows his job.
– Niko has played in the Junior Championship series and has enjoyed the sport since he was very young. In addition to his knowledge of the sport, he is smart and speaks five or six different languages, and he likes the work of a judge, which is the most important thing of all. If necessary, he calls me at night and asks if we watch some clips. It’s tough sometimes, but I like that he wants to develop in his career.
Just over three years ago, Sergeant Nikolaos Ioannidis was awarded the commander’s coin for his exemplary and courageous actions at the scene of the accident. Now that same, brave and sharp Niko is doing his best in the Korisliiga rule jungle.
– From match to match and from day to day, I always do my best and try to learn from my own mistakes. The emotions of the spectators, players and coaches in the hall are part of the picture and it’s just cool that there is a lot of emotion around, 24-year-old Nikolaos says enthusiastically.