Fairfield, IA- With the drama that surrounded Fairfield’s Monday night boys’ basketball contest versus Iowa City High School, here is a dry summary of the event and where the investigation is currently at. The basketball game Monday night was forfeited by Iowa City High after the benches cleared following an altercation between a member of each team near the end of the game. At this point, a spectator and City High Head Coach, Brennan Swayzer, had been ejected from the game. Swayzer was ejected for getting two technical fouls in the game. After the altercation, both teams were sent to the locker room for five minutes to calm down and at the conclusion of the five minutes, City High decided to forfeit the game. The team received a police escort to the bus and out of town.
On Tuesday, Iowa City High School District would then release a statement to their staff, students, and parents stating that during the game an official directed a “racially charged” statement towards Swayzer and due to the “unsafe environment within the gym” decided to forfeit the game. They also stated that they were pleased to see the situation de-escalated the way that it was. City High did report the comment to the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), who is investigating the situation.
On Wednesday, Fairfield Community School District released a statement that said they support a safe environment and “commended its student body, athletes, coaches, and staff for demonstrating their community values of inclusion, safety, and respect during the game and subsequent events following the game.” Fairfield stated that they are more than willing to hand over any information needed for the IHSAA investigation.
The final party involved is the Iowa City Athletic Official Association (ICAOA) who provided the referees for the game. In their statement, the officials are “categorically” denying any statement of the kind were made toward the coaches by one of their officials and that “they are shocked and hurt by the accusation.” The ICAOA stated they will fully support the investigation but they are “concerned” how the City High school district did not speak to the officials or the association before releasing their statement. The investigation is currently ongoing.