The WNBA Finals are set to take place as the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries will face off against each other in a quest to win their first-ever championship in franchise history.
After a wait of almost over a week, Game 1 will tip off on Saturday in San Francisco. There is a lot of excitement to see who emerges victorious, as both teams have had brilliant runs to get to the WNBA Finals.
There has been a lot of controversy ahead of the Finals, as Atlanta was unable to find a suitable arena to host fans for the games. However, after finding a solution to that, the latest WNBA Finals officials list caused another controversy, especially after fans saw the name of an infamous referee who has been in the news a lot lately.
Fans fuming as Kevin Fahy named as one of the WNBA Officials for Finals
The WNBA announced the list of officials for the Finals just two days ahead of Game 1. It was all good, until fans saw Kevin Fahy’s name on the list.
The referee came under scrutiny for a missed timeout call he made during the Atlanta Dream vs. New York Liberty series. Breanna Stewart made it clear that she had asked Fahy if the Liberty had a timeout, but the three-time WNBA champion was firmly denied, which led to an attempted heave on the final play instead of advancing the ball beyond the half-court.
After the game, the league put out a statement, which further caused a lot of anger among fans.
“At that moment, there were multiple overlapping conversations and non-verbal exchanges between the referees, game participants, and also Stewart with Liberty bench personnel, which led to a misunderstanding amongst the various parties. Our referees can certainly handle these interactions better and have been given that feedback,” the statement from the league read.
Not even a month later, seeing Fahy, who was responsible for the controversy on the WNBA Finals officials list led to a lot of criticism among fans.
“Having Kevin on this list is malpractice,” said one fan. While another added: “The ref who told the Liberty they didn’t have a reset timeout, then later lied about it, just got chosen to work the finals. Your league is an absolute joke.”
There were a few other referees as well, whom fans were not too pleased to see on the list.
“So Timothy Green “doesn’t know the rules” & Kevin Fahy “no reset timeout” are on this list?!? Who in the @WNBA @WNBACommisioner allowed them after the glaring errors,” wrote one X user. Someone else stated: “I see every horrible official in the last Dream/Mystics and Dream/Liberty games are all included. They literally called 92 fouls between those two games. One game, a total of 56 alone.”
An account user also opined: “it’s not too late to ask FIBA for their refs.”
The officials for the Finals are selected by the WNBA Referee Operations Management Team. Bethany Donaphin, Head of WNBA League Operations, said: “This group of officials has earned the right to represent the WNBA and their profession on the ultimate stage, the Finals. Being selected to officiate in the WNBA Finals is an opportunity they have worked for and is a testament to their on-court achievements this season and across their respective careers.”
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