Yorkshire County Cricket Club received a 48-point deduction in the English County Championship after admitting to racism charges of the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal. The club was also penalised £400,000 ($514,000) by the independent Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC), with £300,000 suspended for two years. Yorkshire has dropped to the bottom of County Championship Division Two as a result of the points punishment.
In September 2020, Pakistan-born bowler Rafiq, 32, went public with charges of racism and bullying relating to his two periods in the English county.
Yorkshire’s board of directors issued a statement recognising the sanctions.
Yorkshire’s statement
Talking about accepting the sanctions the statement said, “The CDC and ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) have today acknowledged the vast amount of work done by YCCC to overcome the cultural issues that existed within the club, which allowed racist and discriminatory behaviour to go unchallenged. We are accountable for these issues, and we accepted four amended charges as part of a continued commitment to ensure we are able to move forward.”
Speaking about the point deduction penalty, the Yorkshire County Cricket Club expressed their disappointment. The statement about the point deduction penalty said, “We are disappointed to receive the point deductions which affects players and staff at the club, who were not responsible for the situation.”
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Richard Gould, ECB Chief Executive’s statement
Current ECB Chief Executive, Richard Gould also talked about the racism scandal. Notably, Gould was not the Chief Executive at the time of the incident. The statement by Gould said, “There can be no place for racism in our game, and the penalties announced by the Cricket Discipline Commission mark the end of a thorough disciplinary process. No one should have to experience what Azeem Rafiq went through in cricket, and we once again thank him for his courage in speaking out.”
Rishi Sunak on racism and sexism
Before the ECB put up the final penalties against the Yorkshire County, British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak had talked about the grim presence of racism and sexism in cricket. Sunak said that he had talked to some people in the ECB and believed that they were committed to fixing the problem. Speaking on BBC Radio during the second Ashes test match between Australia and England at Lord’s, he said, “I have spent a little bit of the morning talking to the team at the ECB and I think they have approached it in exactly the right way.”
Six former Yorkshire players have previously been penalised by the CDC for using racist remarks. Separately, the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) released a stinging report last month that highlighted “widespread” racism, misogyny, and classism in English cricket. Following the racial incident regarding Rafiq’s treatment, the ICEC was formed in 2021.
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