Azeem Rafiq attacks the ECB for lack of support following the racist scandal: “I was expelled from the country” | Cricket News

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Azeem Rafiq told MPs he had received no support from the England and Wales Cricket Board since he first testified about the racism he faced at Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

The former bowler appeared before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Select Committee on Tuesday for the first time since November 2021 and said he had been forced to leave the UK due of the abuse he had suffered.

Rafiq gave powerful testimony to DCMS last November about his experience of abuse and bullying in Yorkshire, and spoke to the committee again, detailing the fallout from last year’s testimony.

“I haven’t felt supported at all. For the past two months I’ve had 24/7 security, but I’ve been forced to leave. Security has been good throughout, but sometimes there was no protection,” the 31-year-old said.

“I feel like even the ECB has been involved in leaking and spreading stories about me. My information and medical data has been shared. I have made this point to the new president. [Richard Thompson, appointed in August 2022].

“I felt that when there was a chance to discredit my experiences, I felt like even the ECB had tried to do that. For me, I don’t think it’s about individuals The structural issues within cricket are much bigger.

“If I were to look back 13 months after I opened my heart, all that’s really changed is my family and I were kicked out of the country. And that’s a sad part.”

Rafiq recounted some of the abuse he suffered, including a man defecating outside his parents’ house.

He added: “The way I’ve been attacked and abused, why would you talk? I have some hope in the new leadership (of the ECB), but it’s very little at the minute.”

“Cricket is very much in denial”

In June, the ECB indicted a number of individuals in connection with Rafiq’s abuse allegations, as well as Yorkshire for its handling of those allegations.

However, the Cricket Disciplinary Committee is yet to hear the case after a dispute over whether it should take place in public or in private.

In his final testimony, Rafiq, who apologized for historic anti-Semitic social media posts last year, criticized ‘the cricketing establishment’, which tried to do ‘this on me and largely to prevent other people from coming forward”.

He also slammed the Yorkshire Post for a series of articles which he said attempted to discredit him.

Image: Jahid Ahmed also gave evidence on Tuesday

“I was forced to leave, and one of the reasons it happened was because of the Yorkshire Post writing,” he said.

“I would be willing to sit with them [editors of the Yorkshire Post] that the Jewish community has with me.”

Yorkshire Post editor James Mitchinson said in a statement: “I absolutely reject claims by Azeem Rafiq and George Dobell that the Yorkshire Post has enabled a culture of racism in its reporting on Yorkshire County failures. Cricket Club.

“The Yorkshire Post has repeatedly acknowledged the racism suffered by Mr Rafiq and we have been scrupulously objective, impartial and professional in our reporting on the story. Our readers would expect no less of us.

“Finally, Mr Rafiq can be assured that The Yorkshire Post remains committed to diligent editing, listening and telling all aspects of the stories we cover with honesty, integrity and impartiality.”

Former Sky Sports commentator David Lloyd apologized last year after being named by Rafiq during his DCMS testimony.

Lloyd later parted ways with Sky and Rafiq criticized the way the situation was handled.

“I spoke about David Lloyd here last year, got an apology and we spoke on the phone. David wanted to make sure he was part of the solution.

“Sky Cricket got rid of him and it was a bad decision.”

Rafiq added that he thinks “cricket is very much in denial”, saying the ECB’s work so far appears “superficial”.

In a statement, the ECB said: “Since Azeem Rafiq testified before the select committee a year ago, significant steps have been taken in the field of cricket and progress has been made in the fight against discrimination. and to make the sport more welcoming and inclusive. But we are well aware that there is still a lot of work to be done.”

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Sky Sports News’ James Cole takes a closer look at Azeem Rafiq’s evidence before the DCMS select committee, where he describes the ECB’s fight against racism as “superficial”.

Former Essex County all-rounder Jahid Ahmed also appeared before DCMS and said he had received no support from the county since speaking.

He revealed that when he was on the books at Essex players used racial slurs. He added that other members of the Asian team had advised him to ignore the comments, but he felt he had to speak out “to support Azeem”.

Essex responded in a statement referencing an ongoing independent investigation and a report by Katharine Newton KC into historic allegations of racism at the club.

They thanked Ahmed for his own contribution to the report, which is nearing completion, and said they “intend to publish it to the fullest extent possible.”

“I don’t know how Azeem gets the strength to carry on”

YCCC chairman Lord Kamlesh Patel also addressed the select committee and accused the ECB of failing to support him when he was criticized for the county club’s reforms.

Lord Patel was appointed chairman of Yorkshire in November 2021 after the county was stripped of international hosting rights over its handling of racism allegations.

He was tasked with implementing the reforms at Headingley but told the committee he felt left to his own devices to handle that by the ECB.

Image: YCCC chairman Lord Kamlesh Patel also criticized the ECB

“If I was attacked in the press or if cricket executives or former cricket executives made unsubstantiated statements, nothing was done,” Patel said.

“I asked in writing, and got email after email, letter after letter, saying ‘you asked me to do it, I did it, please support- me” and I have no response to these letters and emails. So it was very distressing.

“I look forward to the new direction of Richard Thompson, the few encounters I’ve had with him have been positive, and I feel like it’s moving forward, but over the past 12 months the response [to the question of whether he has felt supported by the ECB] must be “no”.

“If I was a person who was not a member of the House of Lords and had no leadership experience, you would leave.

“I don’t know how Azeem gets the strength to keep going. You were just running. In the public eye, we get criticism (but) it’s relentless. And it’s coming from an area where you wouldn’t expect it – this is sports, for God’s sake.

“People who have just been [making] a concerted attack, I don’t think people understand, I don’t think the ECB understood.”

Lord Patel highlighted the reforms that have been implemented in Yorkshire, including free kits and coaching for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, adding that it will cost the club almost £500,000.

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