From: www.angolapress-angop.ao
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Luanda - The chairman of the Angolan Basketball Federation (FAB), Gustavo da Conceição, Sunday in Luanda considered the Angolan basketball referees, especially those with international categories, as being the best in the continent.

"They are the best because they officiate high level games throughout the whole year and do not just wait for the Afrobasket competitions to referee top games", said Gustavo da Conceição to the sports station Radio-5.

Angola has five international referees, a number that still does not satisfy the federation official, reason why he is of the opinion that the national referees should more and more upgrade their knowledge and skills, such as languages (mainly English and French), as well as their professional techniques.

"We will defend our referees, make sure they participate always in international events", he said, also reminding the fact that the country`s referees have had few opportunities to officiate in African championships, considering that the Angolan team have a frequent presence in continental cups.

The logics of neutrality in terms of refereeing, in some cases diminishes the quality of work, since referees from countries with a lower basketball quality have often officiated high level games.

On the other hand, Gustavo da Conceição spoke about the support that the government is giving to FAB, so that next August the country may host the Afrobasket-2007 in good conditions.