Boris Margeta from Slovenia (Main picture) has been the most consistent water polo referee on the world stage, officiating at a tournament’s final match on numerous occasions, throughout a career that has spanned six Olympiads.

Reaching the height of his career ahead of mandatory retirement, Margeta is hoping to end his fine career at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, which would be his sixth Olympics and equal the record set by Cuba’s the late Eugenio Martinez.

Margeta was on target for that accolade at Tokyo 2020, but had to withdraw at the last minute through family illness.

For many years, I have been researching and compiling a list of FINA referees at major FINA-controlled events and find the list of referees who have controlled finals as interesting read.

Margeta, whom we profiled last year, has been at the pinnacle for some time and at the recent Budapest 2022 FINA World Championships he controlled both the women’s and men’s finals, a rare feat in itself.

Margeta, who last year had more than 600 internationals under his belt, can be seen on the following list as having been one of the two referees in charge of finals matches on 16 occasions, stretching back to 1999.

I must say at this point, that these are FINA events only and do not contain the continental events at which Margeta has been a regular come time for European finals.

For the record, Margeta has officiated finals at the following events:
• Olympics — 1 Women’s
• FINA World Champs — 6 Men’s and 3 Women’s
• FINA World Cup — 2 Men’s
• FINA World League Super Final — 3 Men’s
• FINA Junior Champs — 1 Women’s

In the Budapest men’s final, he worked the whistle with Greece’s Georgios Stavridis (above), himself a regular at FINA finals. In fact, they have controlled a final together on three occasions, the other two being the 2015 FINA World Championship men’s final and the 2018 FINA Men’s World Cup finale.

Stavridis’ chequered career includes a men’s and a women’s Olympic final; the two men’s FINA World Championships finals; a men’s FINA World Cup decider; a men’s and women’s FINA World League Super Final gold-medal match and, in 2005, a FINA Junior Women’s final.

I had the honour of hosting both referees when they controlled the Oceania Olympic qualifying series for women in Queensland in 2004.

Also in Budapest, referees with previous finals experience included Michael Goldenberg (USA), Frank Ohme GER), Ivan Rakovic (SRB), Radu Matache (ROU), Michiel Zwart (NED), Maro Savinovic (CRO) and Harvey Hinds (CUR).

The following definitive list contains gaps, which you might be able to assist me with. Some obvious gaps are the Olympic Games where finals were not always staged, being round-robin tournaments. This is not just confined to Olympics, as some women’s World Cups were also round robins.

If you think you can assist with completing some of the gaps, please email me at mckmedia@iinet.net.au

OLYMPICS

Men:

1900, Paris, France —W LEWIS (???)
1904, St Louis, USA —
1908, London, England —
1912, Stockholm, Sweden —Erik BERGVALL (SWE)
1920, Antwerp, Belgium — Erik BERGVALL (SWE);
1924, Paris, France — A INGLIS (GBR)
1928, Amsterdam, Netherlands — Maurice BLITZ (BEL)
1932, Los Angeles, USA — Alphons DELAHAYE (BEL)
1936, Berlin, Germany —Louis DELBORT (FRA)
1948, London, England — Alphons DELAHAYE (BEL)
1952, Helsinki, Finland — Julien BAUWENS (BEL)
1956, Melbourne, Australia — Tomas BATALLE (ESP)
1960, Rome, Italy — Julien BAUWENS (BEL)
1964, Tokyo, Japan — Josef DIRNWEBER (AUT)
1968, Mexico City, Mexico — Abe FUCHS (BEL)
1972, Munich, West Germany — Cornel MARCULESCU (ROU) RR decided USSR
1976, Montreal, Canada — John FELIX (USA) NO RR
1980, Moscow, USSR — Adalberto CAPUANI (ITA), Abe FUCHS (BEL) RR??
1984, Los Angeles, USA — Eugenio ASENCIO (ESP), Eugenio MARTINEZ (CUB) RR
1988, Seoul, Korea —— Eugenio ASENCIO (ESP), John WHITEHOUSE (AUS)
1992, Barcelona, Spain — Eugenio MARTINEZ (CUB), Fred VAN DORP (NED)
1996, Atlanta, USA — Rolf LUDECKE (GER), Vladimir PRIKHODKO (KAZ)

Men and Women:
2000, Sydney, Australia — Men: Petrus BOOKELMAN (NED), Paraskevas CHASEKIOGLOU (GRE). Women: Renato DANI (ITA), Vladimir PRIKHODKO (KAZ)
2004, Athens, Greece — Men: Alan BALFANBAYEV (KAZ), Roberto PETRONILLI (ITA). Women: Gabor KISZELLY (HUN), Boris MARGETA (SLO)
2008, Beijing, China — Men: Mario BRGULJAN (MNE), Gaetan TURCOTTE (CAN). Women: Massimiliano CAPUTI (ITA), Gabor KISZELLY (HUN)
2012: London, England — Men: Georgy JUHASZ (HUN), Sergio BORRELL (ESP). Women: Marie-Claude DESLIERES (CAN), Georgios STAVRIDIS (GRE).
2016: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — Men: Georgios STAVRIDIS (GRE), Peter MOLNAR (HUN). Women: Adrian ALEXANDRESCU (ROU), Xevi BUCH (ESP).
2021: Tokyo, Japan (2021) — Men: Michael GOLDENBERG (USA), Xevi BUCH (ESP). Women: Nenad Peris (CRO), Sebastien DERVIEUX (FRA).

Olympic Games Qualification Tournaments

Men:
2008, Oradeo, Romania — Aaron CHANEY (USA), Doriel TERPENKA (CAN)
2012, Edmonton, Canada — Filippo GOMEZ (ITA), Daniel FLAHIVE (AUS)
2016, Trieste, Italy — Georgios STAVRIDIS (GRE), Radoslaw KORYZNA (POL). 
2020 (2021), Rotterdam, Netherlands — Frank OHME (GER), Sebastien DERVIEUX (FRA)

Women:
2000, Palermo, Italy — Peter BOOKELMAN (NED), Daniel LEGARE (CAN)
2004, Imperia, Italy — 
2008, Imperia, Italy: Anton BERVOETS (NED), Shi Wei NI (CHN)
2012, Trieste, Italy — Denis DANELON (BRA), Cory WILLIAMS (NZL)
2016, Gouda, Netherlands — Daniel FLAHIVE (AUS), Erwin SCHAAPERS (NED)
2020 (2021), Trieste, Italy — Svetlana DREVAL (RUS), Alessandro SEVERO (ITA)

FINA World Championships:

Men:
1973, Belgrade, Yugoslavia — Cornel MARCULESCU (ROU)
1975, Cali, Colombia — George GEURTSEN (NED)
1978, Berlin, West Germany — Nicola EXEROV (BUL), John FELIX (USA)
1982, Guayaquil, Ecuador — William FRADY (USA), Giuseppe PIZZORNO (ITA)
1986, Madrid, Spain — Eugenio ASENCIO (ESP), Fred VAN DORP (NED)
1991, Perth, Australia — Andrei AFANASIEV (RUS), John WHITEHOUSE (AUS)
1994, Rome, Italy — Bret BERNARD (USA), Vladimir PRIKHODKO (KAZ)
1998, Perth, Australia — Renato DANI (ITA), Erhan TULGA (TUR)
2001, Fukuoka, Japan — Amedeo CLARA (ITA), Erhan TULGA (TUR)
2003, Barcelona, Spain — Torsten BOCK (GER), Peter BOOKELMAN (NED)
2005, Montreal, Canada — Boris MARGETA (SLO), Aaron CHENEY (USA).
2007, Melbourne, Australia — Sergio BORRELL (ESP), Massimiliano CAPUTI (ITA)
2009, Rome, Italy — Mark KOGANOV (AZE), Boris MARGETA (SLO)
2011, Shanghai, China — Mark KOGANOV (AZE), Erhan TULGA (TUR)
2013, Barcelona, Spain — Sergio BORRELL (ESP), Boris MARGETA (SLO)
2015, Kazan, Russia — Boris MARGETA (SLO), Georgios STAVRIDIS (GRE)
2017, Budapest, Hungary — Adrian ALEXANDRESCU (ROU), Alessandro SEVERO (ITA).
2019, Gwangju, South Korea — Boris MARGETA (SLO), Michael GOLDENBERG (USA)
2022, Budapest, Hungary — Boris MARGETA (SLO), Georgios STAVRIDIS (GRE)

Women:
1986, Madrid, Spain — Gyorgy CSASZAR (HUN), Thomas HERMSTAD (USA)
1991, Perth, Australia — Robert LEE (USA), Salvatore MEROLA (ITA)
1994, Rome, Italy — Andrei AFANASIEV (RUS), Franco PICCHETTO (ITA)
1998, Perth, Australia — Miroslav RADJENOVIC (YUG), Gaetan TURCOTTE (CAN)
2001, Fukuoka, Japan — Paraskevas HASSEKIOGLOU (GRE), Radu MATACHE (ROU)
2003, Barcelona, Spain — Boris MARGETA (SLO), Zoran TOMIC (CRO)
2005, Montreal, Canada — Irfan SADEKOV (RUS), Luko VULETIC (CRO)
2007, Melbourne, Australia — Boris MARGETA (SLO), Erhan TULGA (TUR)
2009, Rome, Italy — Alan BALFANBAYEV (KAZ), Erhan TULGA (TUR)
2011, Shanghai, China — Massimiliano CAPUTI (ITA), Mario BRGULJAN (MNE)
2013, Barcelona, Spain — Radoslaw KORYZNA (POL), Axel BENDER (GER).
2015, Kazan, Russia — Sergey NAUMOV (RUS), Massimiliano CAPUTI (ITA).
2017, Budapest, Hungary — Daniel FLAHIVE (AUS), Diana DUTILH-DUMAS (NED).
2019, Gwangju, South Korea — Michiel ZWART (NED), Nenad PERIS (CRO)
2022, Budapest, Hungary — Boris MARGETA (SLO), Frank OHME (GER)

FINA World Cups:

Men:
1979, Belgrade and Rijeka, Yugoslavia — Eugenio ASCENCIO (ESP), Zeljko KLARIC (CRO)
1981, Long Beach, USA — Pietro DE STEFANO (ITA), George GEURTSEN (NED)
1983    Malibu, USA — George GEURTSEN (NED), Eugenio MARTINEZ (CUB)
1985, Duisburg, Germany — Dusko KLISOVIC (CRO), Gyorgy KONIGH (HUN)
1987, Thessolonika, Greece — Leonardo DONNICI (ESP), Pangiotis PANAGAKOS (GRE)
1989, West Berlin, Germany — Bret BERNARD (USA), Fred VAN DORP (NED)
1991, Barcelona, Spain — Pietro DE STEFANO (ITA), Eugenio MARTINEZ (CUB)
1993, Athens, Greece — Manuel DE JESUS (PUR), Jose DE LA HOZ (CUB)
1995, Atlanta, USA — Martin BRAS (NED), Peter KERR (AUS)
1997, Athens, Greece — Angel MOLINER (ESP), Miroslav RADJENOVIC (YUG)
1999, Sydney, Australia — Gregory BOYER (USA), Vladimir PRIKHODKO (KAZ)
2002, Belgrade, Yugoslavia — Sergio BORRELL (ESP), Massimiliano CAPUTI (ITA)
2006, Budapest, Hungary — Massimiliano CAPUTI (ITA), Boris MARGETA (SLO)
2010, Oradea, Romania — Michael GOLDENBERG (USA), Mark KOGANOV (AZE)
2014, Almaty, Kazakhstan — Georgios STAVRIDIS (GRE), Daniel FLAHIVE (AUS)
2018, Berlin, Germany — Boris MARGETA (SLO), Georgios STAVRIDIS (GRE)
2022 — Not held due to Covid and condensed season

Women:
1979, Merced, USA —
1980, Breda, Netherlands —
1981, Brisbane, Australia —
1983, Ste Foy, Canada —
1984, Irvine, USA —
1988, Christchurch, New Zealand — Round Robin
1989, Eindhoven, Netherlands — Roy GUNNELL (CAN), Esaian RUBEN (USSR)
1991, Long Beach, USA — Patrick CLEMONCEAU (FRA), Robert LEE (USA)
1993, Catania, Italy — Lionel LIEW (SIN), Vladimir PRIKHODKO (KAZ)
1995, Sydney, Australia — Robert LEE (USA), Vladimir PRIKHODKO (KAZ)
1997, Nancy, France — Dimitrios ILIADIS (GRE), Pasquale GROSSO (ITA)
1999, Winnipeg, Canada — Gaetan TURCOTTE (CAN), Andrey AFANASIEV (RUS)
2002, Perth, Australia — Roberto PETRONILLI (ITA), Gaetan TURCOTTE (CAN)
2006, Tianjin, China — Gabor KISZELLY (HUN), Stefane ROY (CAN)
2010, Christchurch, New Zealand — Nikolaos VASILEIOU (GRE), Balazs FEKETE (HUN)
2014, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia — Alexey KRAPIVIN (RUS), Jaume TEIXIDO (ESP)
2018, Surgut, Russia — Maro SAVINOVIC (CRO), Alessandro SEVERO (ITA)
2022 — Not held due to Covid and condensed season

FINA World League Super Finals

Men:
2002, Patras, Greece — Paris HASSEKIOGLOU (GRE), Robert PETRONILLI (ITA)
2003, New York, USA — Greg BOYER (USA), Erhan TULGA (TUR)
2004, Long Beach, USA — Aaron CHANEY (USA), Erhan TULGA (TUR)
2005, Belgrade, SCG — Boris MARGETA (SLO), Erhan TULGA (TUR)
2006, Athens, Greece — Peter BOOKELMAN (NED), Erhan TULGA (TUR)
2007, Berlin, Germany — Gaetan TURCOTTE (CAN), Aaron CHANEY (USA)
2008, Genoa, Italy — Gaetan TURCOTTE (CAN), Boris MARGETA (SLO
2009, Podgorica, Montenegro — Fabio COLLANTONI (ITA), Gabor KISZELLY (HUN)
2010, Nis, Serbia — 
2011, Florence, Italy — Boris MARGETA (SLO), Angel MOLINER (ESP)
2012, Almaty, Kazakhstan — Steven ROTSART (USA), Daniel FLAHIVE (AUS)
2013, Chelyabinsk, Russia — Joe PIELA (USA), Adrian ALEXANDRESCU (ROU)
2014, Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Sergio BORRELL (ESP), Filippo GOMEZ (ITA).
2015, Bergamo, Italy — Adrian ALEXANDRESCU (ROU), Filippo GOMEZ (ITA)
2016, Huizhou, China — Adrian ALEXANDRESCU (ROU), Daniele BLANCO (ITA)
2017, Ruza, Russia — Francesc BUCH (ESP), Adrian ALEXANDRESCU (ROU)
2018, Budapest, Hungary — Adrian ALEXANDRESCU (ROU), German MOLLER (ARG
2019, Belgrade, Serbia —  Georgios STAVRIDIS (GRE), Adrian ALEXANDRESCU (ROU)
2020 — Coronavirus, no competition
2021, Tbilisi, Georgia — Alessandro SEVERO (ITA), Nenad PERIS (CRO).

Women:
2004, Long Beach, USA — Miltiadis ELEFTHERIADIS (GRE),  Vladimir PRIKHODKO (KAZ)
2005, Kirishi, Russia — Sergio BORRELL (ESP), Jean-Michel DELON (FRA)
2006, Cosenza, Italy — Torsten BOCK (GER), Mario BRGULJAN (SCG) 
2007, Montreal, Canada — Nikolaos VASILEIOU (GRE), Angel MOLINER (ESP)
2008, Tenerife, Spain — Radu MATACHE (ROU), Jaime MOLINER (ESP)
2009, Kirishi, Russia — Radu MATACHE (ROU), Andreas Moiralis (GRE)
2010, La Jolla, USA — Denis DANELON (BRA), Michail SKALOCHORITIS (GRE)
2011, Tianjin, China — Gabor VOGEL (HUN), German MOLLER (ARG)
2012, Changshu, China — Emanuel TAYLAN (TUR), Axel BENDER (GER)
2013, Beijing, China — Amber DRURY-PINTO (USA), Jaume TEIXIDO (ESP)
2014, Kunshan, China — Marie-Claude DESLIERES (CAN), Anlong MENG (CHN)
2015, Shanghai, China — Nikolas STAVROPOULOS (GRE), Alessandro SEVERO (ITA)
2016, Shanghai, China —  Nicola JOHNSON (AUS),  Paoletti ATTILIO (ITA).
2017, Shanghai, China — Svetlana DREVAL (RUS), Filippo GOMEZ (ITA).
2018, Kunshan, China — Ursula WENGENROTH (SUI), Svetlana DREVAL (RUS)
2019, Budapest, Hungary — German MOLLER (ARG), Frank OHME (GER)
2020 — Coronavirus, no competition
2021 — Athens, Greece — Georgios STAVRIDIS (GRE), Arkadiy VOEVODIN (RUS).

FINA Junior World Championships:

Men:
1981, Milan, Como, Bergamo, Italy — George GEURTSEN (NED), Richard PAPAZIAN (FRA)
1983, Barcelona, Spain — Mithat HANTAL (TUR), Apostolos TSANTAS (GRE)
1985, Istanbul, Turkey — Eugenio ASCENCIO (ESP), Karl-Heinz POLLMANN (GER)
1987, San Paolo, Brazil — Eugenio MARTINEZ (CUB), Giuseppe PIZZORNO (ITA)
1989, Narbonne, France — Renato DANI (ITA), Julian DEL CAMPO (CUB)
1991, Irvine, Long Beach, Newport, USA — Bret BERNARD (USA), Karol SCHMUCK (SVK)
1993, Cairo, Egypt — Gyorgy CSASZAR (HUN), Rolf LUDECKE (GER)
1995, Dunkirk, France — Angel MOLINER (ESP), Vladimir PRIKHODKO (KAZ)
1997, Havana, Cuba — Jose DE LA HOZ (CUB), Vladimir PRIKHODKO (KAZ)
1999, Kuwait City, Kuwait — Zoran TOMIC (CRO), Erhan TULGA (TUR)
2001, Istanbul, Turkey — Jose Maria TEULE (ESP), Mark LEVIN (ISR).
2003, Naples, Italy — Sergey NAUMOV (RUS), Filippo GOMEZ (ITA)
2005, Mar Del Plata, Argentina —
2007, Long Beach, USA — Steven ROTSART JNR (USA), Alexander GALKIN (RUS)
2009, Sibenik, Croatia — Vlastimil KRATOCHVIL (SVK), Alexander GALKIN (RUS)
2011, Volos, Greece — Mario BIANCHI (ITA), Cem FILIKSAC (TUR)
2013, Szombathely, Hungary — Akif UZ (TUR), Francesc BUCH (ESP)
2015, Almaty, Kazakhstan — Jaume TEIXIDO (ESP), Mikhail DYKMAN (CAN)
2017, Belgrade, Serbia — Ivan RAKOVIC (SRB), Vladimir GOLIKOV (RUS).
2019, Kuwait City, Kuwait — David GOMEZ (ESP), Michiel ZWART (NED)
2019, Prague, Czech Republic —

World Youth Boys’ World Championships:

2012, Perth, Australia — Adrian ALEXANDRESCU (ROU), Matan SCHWARTS (ISR)
2014, Istanbul, Turkey — Voijin PUTNIKOVIC (SRB), Alessandro SEVERO (ITA)
2016, Podgorica, Montenegro — Balazs SZEKELYI (HUN), Alberto ROVIDA (ITA)
2018, Szombathely, Hungary — Sebastien DERVIEUX (FRA), Gabor VOGEL (HUN)
2020 — Coronavirus, no competition

World Junior Women’s World Championships:

1995, Ste Foy, Canada — Roy GUNELL (CAN), Paris HASSEKIOGLOU (GRE),
1997, Prague, Czech Republic — Amedeo CLARA (ITA), Pavel REZEK (CZE)
1999, Messina, Italy — Giuseppe AGLIALORO (ITA), Boris MARGETA (SLO)
2001, Perth, Australia —
2003, Calgary, Canada — Radoslaw Koryzna (POL), Gert NONNEKES (NED)
2005, Perth, Australia — Jean-Michel DELON (FRA), Georgios STAVRIDIS (GRE)
2007, Porto, Portugal —
2009, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia — Cristina TACCINI (ITA), Nikolaos VASILEIOU (GRE).
2011, Trieste, Italy — Cristina TACCINI (ITA), Amber DRURY (USA)
2013, Volos, Greece — Svetlana DREVAL (RUS), Nicolas BUDRAMIS (GRE)
2015, Volos, Greece — Daniel BARTELS (AUS), Michail BIRAKIS (GRE)
2017, Volos, Greece — Joan COLOMINAS (ESP), Martina KUNIKOVA (SVK)
2019, Funchal, Portugal — Darren BROWN (USA), Marjay ZSOLT (HUN)
2021, Netanya, Israel — Svetlana DREVAL (RUS), Ivan RAKOVIC (SRB).

World Youth Girls’ World Championships:

2012, Perth, Australia — Amber DRURY (USA), Alessandro SEVERO (ITA)
2014, Madrid, Spain — Marcela MAUSS (GER) and Juan C. COLOMINAS (ESP)
2016, Auckland, New Zealand — Nicola JOHNSON (AUS), Gabriella VARKONYI (HUN)
2018, Belgrade, Serbia — Martina KUNIKOVA (SVK), Adil AIMBETOV (KAZ)
2020 — Coronavirus, no competition

Development Trophy/Challengers’ Cup

Men:
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019 — Sergey NAUMOV (RUS), Sanket SHINDE (IND)
2021 — Nenad PERIS (CRO), Sergei KANANOVICH (BLR).

Women:

2021    Harvey HINDS (CUR), Leonardo GONZALEZ (VEN).