Indian official nominated for Rio Olympics basketball event

New Delhi, July 1 (IANS) Senior Indian basketball official Naresh Aneja was on Friday nominated to be one of eight jury members who will represent International Basketball Federation (FIBA) at the Rio Olympics scheduled between August 5 to 21.

The composition of the jury pool is as follows: Two from FIBA, 2 from Europe, 1 from Asia, 1 from Oceania, 1 from Africa and 1 from the Americas. The duties of a jury member will be to supervise officials and to provide oversight to officiating and refereeing.

“This is a big honour for me,” Aneja said in a Basketball Federation of India release. “I hope I can meet the expectations that FIBA has for this.”

This is the third prominent time that an Olympic basketball event will see Indian participation. The Indian men’s team had participated in the 1980 Moscow Olympics and three decades later, Snehal Bendke was a woman referee at the 2012 London Games.

An alumnus of Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi, Aneja is a basketball veteran who played for Delhi for 14 years and was selected for the All-Star Junior Indian Team.

Unfortunately, his playing career was cut short due to a knee injury. He also served with Delhi Police in the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police. He has been awarded two medals by the President of India: The President’s Medal for Meritorious Services and the prestigious President’s Medal for Distinguished Aneja’s career in officiating began in 1978, when he passed the National Referee Test.

Aneja has refereed at 14 national finals. In 1998, he took the International FIBA Referee Test and then went on to be a referee at senior men’s, women’s, U-18 and U-16 men’s games. Due to a 50-year cap on the age of active refereeing by FIBA, he undertook the FIBA Commissioner Exam, and went on to provide his expertise at the Asian Games and the FIBA Asia Championships.

He has played a role in three Asian Games, three World Junior Championships and various Asian Championships.

Aneja has also been asked by FIBA Asia to conduct referee clinics at various countries and has also been nominated to be a referee supervisor in the FIBA Asia Men’s, Women’s and Junior Championships.