Carrying India’s basketball dream to Asian Games, referee Rakesh to make his Asiad debut even as no Indian team will take court

CHENNAI: While India has no basketball team at the Asian Games, R Rakesh is the country’s sole representative in the sport as a referee. The Aichi-Nagoya Games will mark his debut in Asian Games, the Karnataka man earlier appearing for Asian championships.The 36-year-old became a FIBA referee at the age of 23 and has a vast experience for over a decade. “Till now (in the current edition), I have officiated on almost all the days. At the Asian Championships last year in China, I officiated until the semifinals. Since it was my maiden edition, I could not proceed further. There have been many ups and downs in my journey. In some tournaments, I get to officiate in the final, but in some, I do not even get to officiate in the semifinals. It depends on the performance, and that is common in sports,” Rakesh told TOI from Japan.

Rakesh, currently India’s only elite-level referee, said lack of monetary benefit is one of the reasons behind the lack of quality Indian officials. “How long can a referee manage to officiate in matches without much monetary benefit? Passion can only push a person to a certain point. Why do people prefer cricket? It is because of the monetary benefits.

We need to have leagues, more international matches in India and popularise the sport....Initially, I also struggled and used to do only domestic matches. Sometimes, tournaments used to get cancelled in rainy seasons and at times due to lack of sponsorships the tournaments got scrapped. However, now I get to officiate regularly,” Rakesh added.Rakesh has officiated in multiple leagues across Asia, including in the Philippines, Lebanon, Syria and Indonesia. He has also been officiating in the Maldives league for the past 10 years. In 2018, he received an opportunity to officiate at the World Junior NBA Championships in Miami.