A referee needed 30 stitches after he was brutally assaulted by a group of eighth graders at a youth basketball game in Georgia, according to TMZ.
The chaos was caught on video at the Love Of The Game event at Stronghold Christian Church on Sunday. TMZ reported that several players from one team and spectators at the game appeared to follow the referee before pinning him to the ground, punching and kicking him.
Kenneth Tarver, the founder of KB Sports, which helped host the youth tournament in Lithonia (about 30 minutes from Atlanta), said he didn’t know what caused the incident.
Coaches appear to confront a referee at the game.Twitter
Tarver said he spoke to the referee after the scuffle and the official is expected to make a full recovery. He added that the team involved in the incident has been banned from future events, which will include increased security.
“The referee seems to be outnumbered from the start,” Paris Cherry, a former pro basketball player who is now a youth basketball development coach, told WSB-TV. “I was horrified. It was a very scary video. To see the adults instigating and then the kids following suit to the point where the kids were chasing the referee at the end of the video is just gross. And it seems like no adult tried to end it.”
According to TMZ, the incident is still under investigation by the Dekalb County Police Department, who responded to the scene in relation to an attack.
The players then chase the referee down. Twitter
Players rave about the referee.Twitter
A Stronghold Christian Church pastor said in a statement: “It is truly unfortunate what happened during this weekend’s basketball game at our facility. We open our doors to serve our community and our goal is to create an atmosphere conducive to joy, enrichment, etc.
“While we cannot control people, it is our hope and prayer that those who enter our facility behave as best they can. Our prayers go out to everyone involved in this current situation.”
An AAU representative said the tournament was not an AAU-sanctioned game and the organization had nothing to do with the incident.