Yorkshire chair quits amid 'abhorrent' racism claims

3 years ago 387

Yorkshire president Roger Hutton has resigned amid the fallout from Azeem Rafiq’s racism allegations against the English cricket club.

“Today I denote my resignation arsenic president of Yorkshire region cricket club, with contiguous effect," Hutton said successful a statement.

“There has been a changeless unwillingness from the enforcement members of the committee and elder absorption astatine the nine to apologise, and to judge that determination was racism, and to look forward. For overmuch of my clip astatine the club, I experienced a civilization that refuses to judge alteration oregon challenge.”

On Thursday, Yorkshire were suspended from hosting planetary matches arsenic punishment for their handling of the racism lawsuit that has shaken the sport.

The England and Wales Cricket board slammed the nine for its “wholly unacceptable” effect to the racism faced by erstwhile subordinate Rafiq.

A fig of Yorkshire's sponsors person deserted the beleaguered club, and the ECB said the lawsuit was "causing superior harm to the estimation of the game".

“The ECB finds this substance abhorrent and against the tone of cricket and its values,” the governing assemblage said successful a statement.

Yorkshire's Headingley Stadium was scheduled to big England's Test against New Zealand and a men’s one-day planetary against South Africa successful 2022, arsenic good arsenic an Ashes Test against Australia successful 2023.

But the ECB said the nine was "suspended from hosting planetary oregon large matches until it has intelligibly demonstrated that it tin conscionable the standards expected of an planetary venue".

Yorkshire said past period that they would not instrumentality immoderate disciplinary enactment against immoderate of their employees, players oregon executives contempt a study that recovered that Rafiq — 1 of their erstwhile captains — was the unfortunate of radical harassment and bullying.

Rafiq, a erstwhile England under-19 captain, said successful interviews past twelvemonth that arsenic a Muslim helium was made to consciousness similar an “outsider” during his clip astatine Yorkshire from 2008-2018 and that helium was adjacent to taking his ain life.

A ceremonial autarkic probe was commissioned by Yorkshire into much than 40 allegations made by Rafiq, with 7 of them upheld successful a study released past month.

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

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