LONDON, NOV 4: Pakistan-born cricketer Azeem Rafiq has demanded sweeping changes at his former English county club, Yorkshire, and across the sport and has revealed he is still suffering abuse amid a deepening racism row.
Yorkshire offered the 30-year-old off-spinner “profound and unreserved apologies” in a report on his allegations of racial abuse in September.
But last week, the county said it would take no disciplinary action against any staff, unleashing a wave of criticism and prompting sponsors to withdraw their support.
Rafiq said the row was about “institutional racism and abject failures by numerous leaders at Yorkshire County Cricket Club and in the wider game”.
“The sport I love and my club desperately need reform and cultural change,” he posted on Twitter. “The system and environment changes that will organically educate and bring through a new generation that make this the beautiful game it should be,” he added.
The row has drawn in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as well as governing body the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
Johnson stepped up the pressure on the ECB on Thursday as his spokesperson told reporters: “The PM’s clear that racist language should never be used in any context whatsoever. These are serious allegations. They must be investigated thoroughly and quickly. We urge the ECB to look at this carefully.”
Rafiq, Yorkshire’s chairperson and the county’s chief executive and director of cricket have all been summoned to testify before a parliamentary committee on November 16.
Former England international Gary Ballance on Wednesday admitted using a racial slur against Rafiq during their time together at Yorkshire, saying in a statement: “I regret that I used this word in immature exchanges in my younger years.”
“I do not wish to discredit Rafa by repeating the words and statements that he made about me and others but I have to be clear that this was a situation where best friends said offensive things to each other which, outside of that context, would be considered wholly inappropriate,” Ballance said, adding that “at no time did I believe or understand that it had caused Rafa distress”. He said that if he had realised, “then I would have stopped immediately”.
However, Rafiq on Thursday said that despite the condemnation of his treatment at Yorkshire, criticism is still coming his way.
“We wonder why people don’t come forward. Even after everything that is out there, there seem to be personal attacks coming. What a sad state of affairs,” he said.
Ballance’s admission came after publishing company Emerald ended their association with Yorkshire and their Headingley ground in Leeds over the handling of the report that found Rafiq suffered “racial harassment and bullying” at the club, with other club sponsors following suit.
Rafiq, who represented Yorkshire in two spells between 2008 and 2018, made 43 allegations and said he had been driven to suicidal thoughts by his treatment at the club.
Yorkshire’s redacted report upheld seven of his claims but concluded the club was not institutionally racist.
