A brawl erupted in this girls’ travel basketball game in Indiana which saw the referee get suplex-slammed into the floor.
The clash occurred during a game between Baylor Basketball and Indiana Elite at the Pacers Athletic Center, Indianapolis. At that time, Baylor trailed 34-12 with 16 seconds left in the first quarter when its coach began some arguments with the ref over a call.
A technical foul was called on Baylor. The coaches and the players then picked up their bag and leave the court.
At that moment, a spectator in green came out from the crowd taking videos of the situation to about a feet-close to the referee’s face.
It is unclear what the spectator said to the referee but the footage shows the referee slapped the spectator’s phone. The spectator then landed a punch on the referee in response. A Baylor player also jumped on the referee, followed by another spectator that attacked the referee.
Amidst the chaotic atmosphere, the spectator in green grabbed the referee and suplex-slammed him to the floor. Not stopping there, several people including the Baylor player also continued punching the ref on the ground.
Following the slam, the combatants are separated by the crowds, even though some still try to chase after the referee.
The president of the Pacers Athletic Center, Evan Suttner, later confirmed that the incident took place in his arena.
“Yes, it was an unfortunate incident that we had to address this weekend,”
Management at the center later give further detail on the parties involved at the brawl, saying they are banned from any future events.
“The event staff removed the involved parties from the remainder of the tournament and will not welcome them back to future events,”
“We are disappointed that this altercation happened, as we strive to provide a great experience for families.”
The center’s statement added that the altercation happened during “a third-party event company’s tournament that was hosted in our building.”
The tournament was put on by Exposure Basketball, which had no comment regarding the incident.
Luthfi Prawiro is a writer based in Jakarta, Indonesia. He has a strong passion for combat sports and a BA in Psychology. His undergraduate thesis was on the Sports Psychology of MMA.