Andrey Afanasyev: It seemed to me the Universiades had a more festive atmosphere than the Olympics 03.08.2010

Despite the boycott of some western countries the Moscow Olympics was acknowledged one of most successful in the history of the Games. There were four Tatarstan representatives in the Moscow Olympics: fencer Nailya Gilyazova and pentathlete Olga Rukavishnikova, two referees Gabdlnur Mukhametzyanov (basketball) and Andrey Afanasyev (water polo). Andrey Alexandrovich told to kazan2013.com not only about the Moscow Olympics but also about the Universiade in which he had worked as a referee.

- Andrey Alexandrovich, how many times did you participate in the Universiades and what are they best remembered for?
- I refereed in three Universiades: in Canada, in the US and in South Korea. In comparison to the Olympics where everything depends on the final result and where there is a certain cyclicity, the Universiade atmosphere is more relaxed and festive. The competitions are held more openly. It is significant that during the World Student Games I was able to pass to the Universiade Village and as for the Olympic Village it was a no-go. However the Universiade discipline was on the up and up. But it only referred to the tournament managers. For example during the Universiade in Korea there were baskets with balls with two volunteers on each side. But still all of them were swiped as souvenirs by locals. What else can I remember? Well, there was no bread in Korea. No common bread or pita, scones. There were European referees as well, former Soviet, Italian referees who missed starchy foods. We missed bread and our European counterparts missed pasta, pizza. Once we were returning from the competitions and we kept asking our driver to make a stop at some place where we could eat European cuisine. The driver didn’t speak English at all but he was listening to us carefully and nodding. At last he stopped near a volunteer who knew English and we explained to her what we wanted. She told something to our driver and he took us to the place we needed. He patiently waited for us while we were having dinner and smiled at us when we came back.

- What else worthy of mark occurred at the other Universiades in Canada and the US?
- The Universiade in Edmonton, Canada was held during the Cold War. There were booklets on the hotel reception desks with hotline phone numbers and everyone who wished to stay abroad could call there. If chekists and coaches were keeping an eye on Soviet athletes, referees were not surveilled at all. We lived not in the Olympic Village but in some common hostels. But no one stayed, no one betrayed the homeland. Once in Edmonton we met a Ukrainian and started a conversation. He talked much and at last he began to offer us to stay in Canada. We simply stopped the talk, turned round and left.

- In the Soviet referee corps you represented Kazan which was a real nothing in water polo world at that time. Did the other referees look down their nose at you?
- I don’t recall anything like that. There were many Armenian referees though there was no real water polo team in their country. An Armenian team played in the first league. But there were seven top-level Armenian referees in the referee corps more than from any other Soviet Union Republic. There was even a joke that in Armenia people were born with whistles in their mouth. In many respects it was due to the fact that the panel of referees was headed by Vladimir Rashmadzhan. By the way in some measure he’s your countepart. For many years Vladimir Vagramovich had been commentating TV broadcasts. He promoted his fellow countrymen. Besides thanks to the absence of Armenian teams in medal matches their referees were most neutral which was by no means unimportant. That’s why the Championship finals had been judged by Armenian referees for a few years. As for international tournaments their finals were also refereed by representatives of Belgium or Turkey where water polo was not developed so much. Till recently finals have been judged by Greek referees but since water polo level in Greece has increased less Greek referees supervise crucial games. On the other hand as the Russian water polo level dropped more Russian referees are assigned to judge significant matches. As for judging skills from non-water polo countries they are quite high. Water polo is not as popular as football or hockey, you won’t make much money in it. We have accommodation and food paid and are given 60 euros of spending money. But still referees leather away at the job in order not to dishonor their reputation. Sometime it gets absurd. As far as I remember once during a match in the Netherlands a commissioner asked me to watch the shot clock. Another referee from Spain was to keep track of the total time. The match was held in an outdoor swimming pool and it was raining. A friend of mine talked me into going out. When we returned the Spanish referee was still standing under his umbrella and watching the time. All soaked and chilled.