Ferdinand "Bong" Pascual (born July 30, 1970) is a Filipino basketball referee who has officiated in the FIBA World Cup and the Summer Olympics.[1] He also served as a referee for theUNTV Cup[2][3] and theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).[4]
Pascual was born on July 30, 1970[5] is a Filipino basketball referee. He has been officiating FIBA-sanctioned basketball games since November 12, 2002.[5] and spent his early years inCabanatuan. He was sent toBaguio to complete his education[4] where he studied at theUniversity of Baguio. He was part of the university's basketball team, the Cardinals.[6] He obtained a commerce degree in the University and became a nursing aide prior to becoming a full-time referee.[1] He has also considered pursuing a career in dentistry.[7]
Pascual has been officiating FIBA-sanctioned basketball games since November 12, 2002.[5] Pascual has officiated in various international competitions including the2014[8][6] and2019 FIBA World Cup.[1] He officiated in a pre-Olympic tournament held prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics.[7]
In 2016, Pascual was nominated by the FIBA as one of the officials that was to work in the2016 Summer Olympics held atRio de Janeiro,Brazil.[9] Pascual is the second Filipino referee to officiate an Olympic basketball game, next to Medardo Felipe in the 1984 Olympic Games.[1] He officiated games at the2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan held in 2021, despite not being able to officiate in theOlympic qualifier inVictoria, Canada due to logistics issue caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic.[10][11][12]
Ferdinand Pascual first officiated in aFIBA Basketball World Cup in 2014. In that edition held in Spain, Pascual was the only Asian to officiate beyond the preliminary round and was involved in two matches:Lithuania's 76–71 victory overNew Zealand in the Round of 16 and theUnited States' 119–76 quarterfinal win againstSlovenia.[7]
In the 2019 edition hosted in China, Pascual was one of the referees tasked to officiate games. Among the games he officiated are: The United States 93–92 overtime win againstTurkey in the preliminaries,[13] the United States' 69–53 victory over Greece in the second round,[14] France 89–79 win over the United States in the quarterfinal,[15] and the bronze medal match which saw France clinching third place by winning 67–59 overAustralia.[16]
