A 25-year-old official is in critical condition in hospital after having his neck slashed by a skate while trying to break up a fight, London, Ont. radio station AM980 is reporting.

Kevin Brown was injured Tuesday during a Jr. C game in Woodstock, Ont. between the New Hamburg Firebirds and Woodstock Renegades.

According to the report, Brown was cut when the two fighters - Woodstock's Craig Thomson and New Hamburg's Reid Oliver – fell to the ice and a skate caught Brown under the chinstrap.