
TMZ.com
The referee who was kicked and punched in the face repeatedly following a Georgia youth basketball game needed 30 stitches to stop the bleeding … a tournament official tells TMZ Sports. But, Kenneth Tarver — the founder of KB Sports who helped put on the youth tourney in Lithonia over the weekend — says, somehow, the guy is doing better now. The terrifying incident was all captured on video on Sunday at the Love Of The Game event at the Stronghold Christian Church — when several young players and other bystanders appeared to beat the hell out of a ref after a game had concluded. Tarver tells us the game actually featured teams full of eighth graders … but, he said he has no idea what caused the postgame scuffle. Tarver said he has spoken to the referee since the incident — and while he needed to be stitched up after the attack, Tarver said he’s going to make a full recovery. Tarver added that he’s banned the team involved in the scuffle going forward … and he vowed to beef up security at future events as well. “I’m gonna make it safer for the officials,” Tarver tells us.