Former English cricketer breaks down recalling racism

2 years ago 368

Giving grounds successful tears, erstwhile cricketer Azeem Rafiq told a British parliamentary proceeding contiguous that helium was humiliated by the racist maltreatment and bullying helium suffered astatine England's astir palmy cricket club.

Rafiq said Yorkshire teammates utilized an violative word referencing his Pakistani heritage, and the enactment astatine the 33-time winners of the English region title failed to enactment connected the racism.

"Pretty aboriginal on, maine and different radical from an Asian background," Rafiq told a House of Commons prime committee overseeing sport, "there were comments specified as, 'You batch beryllium determination adjacent the toilets,' 'Elephant washers.' The connection P--- was utilized constantly. And determination conscionable seemed to beryllium an acceptance successful the instauration from the leaders and nary 1 stamped it out."

Rafiq, a erstwhile England Under-19 captain, said helium felt "isolated, humiliated astatine times" by his attraction astatine Yorkshire during 2 spells playing for the nine from 2008 to 2018.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has suspended Yorkshire from hosting planetary matches implicit its "wholly unacceptable" effect to the racism faced by Rafiq.

Yorkshire said past period that it would not instrumentality immoderate disciplinary enactment against immoderate of its employees, players oregon executives contempt a study that recovered Rafiq was the unfortunate of radical harassment and bullying.

Rafiq told legislators helium was being talked astir arsenic a skipper of Yorkshire earlier reporting his concerns successful 2017. Then Rafiq said committee minutes said helium was "a problem, a troublemaker and an contented that needs to beryllium resolved."

That followed a 2017 preseason circuit erstwhile Rafiq said helium suffered maltreatment from a teammate successful beforehand of others.

"Gary Ballance walks implicit and goes, 'Why are you talking to him? You cognize he's a P---.' Or, 'He's not a sheikh, he's got nary oil,'" Rafiq recalled.

Two weeks ago, Ballance, a erstwhile England cricketer, admitted to utilizing a radical slur against Rafiq erstwhile they were teammates astatine Yorkshire, but said "this was a concern wherever champion friends said violative things to each different which, extracurricular of that context, would beryllium considered wholly inappropriate."

A ceremonial probe was commissioned by Yorkshire successful September 2020 into 43 allegations made by Rafiq, with 7 of them upheld successful a study released lone successful September nether unit from the lawmakers staging the proceeding today.

At 1 constituent the committee had to interruption for respective minutes aft Rafiq grappled with the emotions of recounting achy experiences.

The Pakistan-born Rafiq, who is Muslim, described his distressing archetypal acquisition of intoxicant astatine the property of 15 aft being asked astir his drinking.

"I got pinned down astatine my section cricket nine and had reddish vino poured down my throat, virtually down my throat," the 30-year-old Rafiq said. "The subordinate played for Yorkshire and Hampshire. I (then) didn't interaction intoxicant until astir 2012 and astir that clip I felt I had to bash that to acceptable in.

"I wasn't perfect. There are things I did which I felt I had to bash to execute my dreams. I profoundly regret that but it has thing to bash with racism.

"When I spoke I should person been listened to. The crippled arsenic a full has a problem, with listening to the victim. There is nary 'yeah, but' with racism; determination is nary 'two sides' to racism."

The president and main enforcement of Yorkshire resigned this month.

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