Constanta, Romania, December 17, 2015. The match starring Romania’s and Switzerland’s champions Tomis CONSTANTA and #Dragons LUGANO played on Thursday night in Constanta Sports Hall for the fourth round of action in Pool G of the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men included also a special farewell. International referee Aliaksandr Piasetski from Belarus officiated indeed his last match on the European stage on the shores of the Black Sea Coast as he will now retire at the end of the year having reached the age limit of 55.
The story of Aliaksandr Piasetski is an interesting one. A former Volleyball player, Piasetski suffered a career-ending injury in 1978 and his former coach advised him to stay closer to his favourite sport by taking up a career as referee. He listened to his mentor and did not have any regrets ever since.
His refereeing career started back in the ‘80s in the national championship of the former Soviet Union, and from 1991 through 1997 Piasetski was the only referee from his country to officiate at matches of the European Cups played in the Republic of Belarus.
He became an international referee in 2001 and attended his first major competition in 2007 in Belgorod, Russia. In his career, Aliaksandr Piasetski officiated at more than 500 international matches, including at this year’s inaugural European Games in Baku, several European Championships, as well as in the World League and European Cups. Earlier this spring, Piasetski was one of four international referees appointed for the Final Four tournament of the 2015 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Women held at Azoty Hall in Szczecin, Poland.