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The governing body of British cricket will set up an anti-discrimination department and conduct a review of locker room culture in response to recent exposures of racism in the sport.
The England and Wales Cricket Committee released its comprehensive plan on Friday to address the issues raised by Azeem Rafiq, who testified at parliamentary hearings about the racism he suffered while playing in Yorkshire.
“In order for cricket to truly’connect communities and improve lives’-our stated goal for the European Central Bank-we must first admit that, whether in our own walls or in the wider game, not enough has happened yet. Things come to make our game better,” European Central Bank Chief Executive Officer Tom Harrison said in the announcement.
“This is the only possible reaction to the strong testimony of Azim Rafik and others in recent weeks,” he added.
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Rafic, the former England Under-19 captain, witnessed his experience of racism and bullying in tears while playing for Yorkshire, the most successful cricket club in England.
After Yorkshire’s report on his allegations saw some abuse as “friendly jokes” and caused the club to not immediately leave its ranks, his complaint reached the British Parliament.
The European Central Bank’s plan has received input from all levels of British cricket, including the use of standardized methods to “report, investigate and respond to complaints, allegations and reports throughout the game.”
A comprehensive review of the “locker room culture of all male and female professional teams at home and abroad” will be conducted, and the player and coach education plan will be redesigned to address the gaps found in the review.
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The plan includes a commitment to invest £25 million (US$33.3 million) over five years to support actions to improve equality, diversity and inclusion.
Improving board diversity will be a goal. Through scouts and “targeted support programs for players from different or poor backgrounds”, helping people from different backgrounds enter professional teams is also a goal.
Before the 2022 season, crowd behavior will also be “fully reviewed.”
“Our role as the European Central Bank will now recognize the changes that need to be made internally and provide support, resources and funding to assist the game in making these changes,” Harrison said.
Rafik testified that the Yorkshire teammate used an offensive term to refer to his Pakistani descent, and that the leadership of the 33-time England County Championship team did not act on racism.
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Rafik has stated that his treatment in Yorkshire made him feel “isolated and sometimes humiliated” during the two periods he played for the club from 2008 to 2018.
The European Central Bank subsequently suspended Yorkshire from hosting international competitions because of its “completely unacceptable” response to the racism faced by Rafik, and the jersey supplier Nike terminated its sponsorship.
Rafik’s accusation caused similar complaints from other players and triggered the disclosure of other historical cases.
Two former Essex players recently stated that they were racially discriminated against at the club, and the club’s chairman resigned for using racist language at a board meeting four years ago.
A few days after the parliamentary hearing, Rafik himself apologized after acknowledging that he sent anti-Semitic messages 10 years ago.
A week ago, cricket player Alex Hales posted a photo showing him portraying a photo of Tupac Shakur’s black face at a party in 2009 .
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