The German basketball referee Benjamin Barth has apparently not been nominated for Euroleague games because of his beard.
After a discussion with the European referee chief Richard Stokes, he refused to shave, the Munich resident told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”: “I haven’t received a game since.”
Stokes, who is responsible for appointments in the top European league, informed him last year that “head coaches and sports directors don’t like beards and complain about it,” said Barth. In all other major sports, referees would not wear beards.
However, Barth refused. “I wouldn’t have thought it possible that the supposedly most professional league in Europe behaved so ridiculously,” said the 43-year-old, speaking of a “form of discrimination”.
Barth, who has officiated 558 games in the Bundesliga, received an apology from both the league and Stokes in late April. The referee has nevertheless closed the Euroleague chapter for himself.