Azeem Rafiq accuses Yorkshire of concealing names in racial bullying saga

Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq has expressed his displeasure over the club’s response on the matter of racial harassment he had to go through. On the morning of the fifth and final Test between India and England, Yorkshire chairman Roger Hutton issued an apology to Rafiq and his family.

Back then, Rafiq said that he wasn’t given an advance notice that a statement would be coming in and hence, he was unable to respond. But on Thursday, October 7, Rafiq put forth his views and lashed out at the club for refusing to reveal the names of the ones, who were involved in bullying.

Yorkshire are yet to share the full information of the report with the 30-year-old Rafiq and haven’t made the details public either.

The evidence has to be more than overwhelming, says Azeem Rafiq’s spokesperson

“It is extremely rare for any organisation to feel it has no choice but to admit incidents of racist behaviour,” Rafiq’s spokesperson was quoted as saying in The Guardian.

“The evidence has to be more than overwhelming. This is an extremely important and unusual admission, as is the concession of bullying later in Azeem’s career. The question we now ask is: how bad is the full report for Yorkshire, as well as the players and coach who investigators found to have used racist language and taken part in bullying?” he stated.

Earlier, Yorkshire admitted that there had been three separate incidents of racist language been used at the club. Going by their statement, before 2012 a former coach used racist terms to address a few players and incidents where players made remarks about Rafiq’s body weight came to the fore as well.

“It is difficult to comment on this conclusion. Yorkshire’s refusal to provide him with the report means he has little sense of what has been upheld and what has not – or why. Yorkshire is protecting the players and a coach who they now acknowledge used either racist language or were bullying. The club is intent on not naming them,” Rafiq’s spokesperson added.

Previously, Yorkshire appointed a panel, who’d work independently, to delve deep into the matter. The panel upheld seven out of the 43 accusations brought by Rafiq, but couldn’t draw a proper conclusion that institutional racism was present in the club.

On Thursday, a spokesperson from the England and Wales Cricket Board mentioned that they had started their own process on the issue and have requested Yorkshire to provide the details. If reports are to be believed, the ECB may bring in formal changes after Rafiq expressed his agony over racial treatment.