Multiple referees have been sent home from the NCAA men's basketball tournament's controlled environment in Indianapolis due to a positive COVID-19 test and contact tracing, the NCAA said in a statement Monday night.
Per the NCAA, one official tested positive on Monday and had interacted with five other officials. All six were sent home. Four of the refs have been replaced from a pool of reserves; two won't be replaced.
"Everyone's responsibility is to make their own decisions to be safe and healthy and ready to participate," NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said Tuesday. "This is a virus we don't control. It controls us. Not just from an event standpoint but an individual standpoint, we try to put safeguards in place to protect everyone's health and safety and the integrity of the event, but it can't be perfect. It's not going to ever be perfect in a pandemic."
Stadium reported that referees Ted Valentine, John Higgins and Roger Ayers were among those sent home.
"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."
The NCAA brought 60 referees to Indy in total.
While all signs point to the tournament proceeding without hiccups, a team has until Tuesday to notify the NCAA if it cannot meet its protocols for the Indianapolis bubble. It's unclear which players will be available for Kansas, which withdrew from the Big 12 tournament, and Virginia, which withdrew from the ACC tournament, because of COVID-19 issues.
If any team is forced to withdraw by Tuesday, one of the NCAA's four replacement teams -- Louisville, Colorado State, Saint Louis and Mississippi -- will be used as a substitute. After Tuesday, teams that have to withdraw will not be replaced and their opponents will advance.
Gavitt said there have been five positive results out of 2,300 overall completed tests but cautioned those positives didn't necessarily involve team personnel. The collection of 2,300 tests also includes event staff and other people not associated with the teams, who are nearly all in Indianapolis as required.
"Teams have been very cooperative," Gavitt said. "Things are going quite well, but no one's letting their guard down. No one's making any assumptions about the lack of challenges going forward. So far, so good."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.