LINA, PERU. Boris Margeta is perhaps the most experienced water polo referee patrolling the pool decks at the 2019 Pan American Games. A veteran of multiple Olympic Games as well as World Championships, he has been a decision-maker in numerous important matches, precisely because he is unafraid to make the call as he sees it—and then stand behind his decision. Or, mistake, as was famously illustrated by his apology in 2012 to the Spanish men’s team in the London Games, when a missed call denied the Spaniards a tying goal in a group play against eventual winner Croatia.
That Margeta is in Lima for the PanAms—and almost certainly on deck for Saturday’s men’s final—underscores what’s at stake here: a berth in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. A FINA-certified referee, Margeta has refereed every Olympics since 2000 and every World Championship since 2001. Along with Arkadii Voevodin, he came from working the 2019 FINA World Aquatic Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.
[2019 FINA World Water Polo Championships: Winners and Losers]
Between matches at the Villa Maria del Triunfo Aquatics Complex, Margeta spoke with Swimming Word about the rule changes approved by FINA last December, how the roster changes imposed by the International Olympic Committee have been received by coaches and his impressions of competition at the 2019 Pan Ams.
[FINA Approves New Water Polo Rules; More Changes Likely]
– One of the issues at this tournament is new rules for water polo that were instituted by FINA last December. They’ve been field tested for almost a year now; what are some of the pluses and minuses you’ve observed at Pan Ams?
The new rules are work very well for speeding up the game. The game is much faster as teams are using flying substitutes. This is very important rule because we don’t use timeout time, so the players can rest
Margeta outside the Villa Maria del Triunfo Aquatics Complex.
We have more action, more and more goals, which for spectators—it’s the meaning of the new rules. There are still some discussions about the penalty rule with the ball in the hand. This is for us big change because in water polo we had the advantage rule—which protects the player to score a goal.
The attacking player have done something good. He must be protected to score a goal. And before with the ball in the end there was no foul—and public, didn’t understand it. So, we must clearly this up a little bit this rule and then we’ll be fine.
– How do you see that playing out? Because you now have another year before the Tokyo Olympics. Will there be more discussion and analysis before then?
Absolutely, and this is already happening. In Gwangju they prepared a lot of analysis of numbers, of shots, numbers of attack, whichever goes to benefit the new rules. The game is more exciting, faster. Absolutely. And we are trying to clean it up the game with impeding fouls. To protect the moment, this is the basic of what we want to do with these water polo rules: protect the movement drivers, more actions from outside and now it is going well.
– You feel confident that as time goes on, everything will settle in on the rule side. Now what about the reduced roster?
First of all, me as a referee, I cannot comment about decisions or tactics by the coaches. I think all the water polo world was against reducing the number of players. It’s, it’s not human. This is very difficult sport. And reducing players from 13 to 11 is very, very difficult—to most referees, also coaches, also players.
When this happened, nobody is supportive to reducing the players to number 11.
– But the other side of it is when you have 11 players and three exclusions….
We cannot reduce number of exclusions. We must whistle what is written in the book. We cannot now change our interpretation because there are not enough players or something. This is not our job. We will stick with the protecting the movement in the highest possible level if there will be somebody on the bench. I don’t know [Laughs].
– Have you seen any circumstances where a team has had play at a disadvantage because they had run out of players?
In August in the European Championships, Georgia against Russia. Nobody remained on the bench.
– I understand that you can’t comment on coaching tactics; I felt it was important that Adam Krikorian, the U.S. women’s coach, was making a strong statement about this.
[Krikorian: Johnson, World’s Top Polo Goalie, Plays Field Because of IOC, Possible Injury]
The coach’s job is to protect his team [and] to get the win. This, everybody understands it’s no problem. that. So, they will pick up any possible tactic, but the tactic must be according to the rules. I’m not completely sure if, if this can be changed. This new situation for everybody. I understand coaches, they are disappointed. I am disappointed as well to reduce the players through level. It’s, I think it’s not the right way.
Mackenzie Fisher in goal—with Ashleigh Johnson watching. Photo Courtesy: Vidal Tarqui / Lima 2019
– This is a fantastic facility and clearly the upside for Peruvian water polo is good—if it can be sustained. How do you see this tournament helping water polo to become more popular?
Absolutely! Water polo is not European private sport. Water polo is the sport of the whole world. What Peru is doing here with this facility with this organization for me is fantastic. The teams are improving. Mexico is playing very good. Quality of water polo is good; the games are excellent.
I would just like to congratulate the organizers of this tournament, I hope there will be more like it, not only every four years. This is important—constant work and we’ve had good teams from Latin America. And the North is always good. So, I would like that everybody would support also the south, South America. They are doing good job—a very good job.