‘I’ve woken up this morning to a barrage of abuse’ - Azeem Rafiq talks of racist abuse after Graves-led loan offer for Yorkshire

Former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq has come forward to talk of the racist abuse that he received after Yorkshire approved a loan offer from a consortium headed by ex-chairman Colin Graves. The members of the club will likely vote in favour of the takeover deal on February 2.

Yorkshire were slapped with a hefty fine of $510,560 and handed a 48-point deduction in the County Championship after an incident of racist harassment in the club after Rafiq revealed that he was a victim of racism within the club.

It is interesting to note that Colin Graves was the chairman of Yorkshire between 2012 and 2015, which was the time when the club failed to address and take appropriate action against racism. With Graves’ return to the club, Rafiq talked about what his return empowered and how he received many racist abuses on social media right after his imminent return

"I've woken up this morning to a barrage of abuse - racist, Islamophobic, all sorts of things I've had in my DMs - this is what (Graves' return) empowers, it empowers those idiots out there who feel they can be openly racist,” Rafiq told the BBC in an interview.

"It sends the message loud and clear to South Asians that cricket is not a welcoming and safe place for us," he added.

It is also interesting to note that Colin Graves has denied any knowledge of racist behaviour within the club and branded whatever happened as ‘banter’. However, he did issue an apology to everyone affected by racism on January 11. 

Subsequently, the loan offer was accepted by Yorkshire, with reports suggesting that the consortium had offered an immediate loan of 1 million pounds, which would be followed by further investment of 4 million pounds. With debts of £17 million scheduled to be repaid by October 2024, Yorkshire were in a terrible financial position, and the approval of the loan offer came at an adequate time.