The NCAA has sent home six officials from the men’s basketball tournament in Indianapolis after one of the referees tested positive for the coronavirus.
Through contact tracing, the NCAA removed the other five other officials. According to Stadium, which first reported the news, Ted Valentine, John Higgins and Roger Ayers were among those replaced. Those four are some of the most well-known officials in the country.
“The NCAA has replaced several officials for March Madness because of a positive COVID-19 test,” the NCAA said in a statement. “One official tested positive March 15, and five other officials the person interacted with the day before were identified as exposure risks due to prolonged close contact.
“Based on tournament protocols and contract tracing with local public health authorities, these officials may not participate in the tournament. The infected official must be placed in isolation, and the other officials must be placed in quarantine. Four replacement officials have been previously approved and meet the pre-tournament testing protocols. Two of the officials will not be replaced.”
The officials arrived in Indianapolis on Sunday night, but their hotel rooms weren’t ready for them. A group of referees received permission to get dinner at a steakhouse in Indianapolis, but they discovered one of the officials had tested positive for the coronavirus later once they took tests.
According to ESPN, four officials have been replaced from a pool of reserves, but two haven’t been replaced.
Should any team need to withdraw from the tournament, the NCAA has until 6 p.m. on Tuesday to make that change. The four potential replacement teams are Louisville, Colorado State, Saint Louis and Mississippi.
• Andy Kostka can be reached at akostka@washingtontimes.com.
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