Oak Harbor referee caught talking on phone during game

Video footage of an Oak Harbor Middle School basketball game went viral Tuesday evening.

The video showed a referee talking on his phone while the game was going on. In the video, the referee can be seen running up the court with the phone to his ear. He’s on the phone for 40 seconds of the 46 second video.

A person near the camera can be heard joking: “You think he’s getting instructions on how to officiate?”

KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson, who along with being a talk show host is a girl’s high school basketball coach, said this type of behavior by a referee during a game is unacceptable.

“It’s so disrespectful, a referee doing something like that,” said Monson on his show Wednesday. “I don’t understand why one of the coaches didn’t walk up to the guy and say get off the phone.”

Outside of a family emergency, Monson couldn’t think of a good explanation for a referee to be on the phone mid-game.

After the video made the media rounds, even appearing on The Today Show Wednesday, a representative from Oak Harbor Public Schools provided a statement to Deadspin:

“We did some fact checking. Turns out the ref was calling his supervisor to report that a referee was needed at a crosstown game with 44 kids and no officials. Poor judgment to call during the game? Yes, but his intention was to help the other school. The referee organization has confirmed the call and is investigating the incident.”

Monson is also reaching out to the referee’s association for further explanation.