Suffered from racist abuse, says former English county cricketer Azeem Rafiq
30-year-old testifies before British parliament's digital, culture, media and sport select committee
Former English cricketer Azeem Rafiq has told a British parliamentary inquiry that he suffered from racist abuse during his time at the Yorkshire cricket club.
In his testimony to the digital, culture, media and sport select committee on Tuesday, Rafiq, who is of Pakistani descent, spoke about the culture of racism at the county club said to be England's most successful.
He shared some racist comments he and other players with Asian backgrounds players were subjected to such as "elephant washer" and "You lot sit over there near the toilets."
Rafiq, a Muslim, said he was forced to drink wine at the age of 15. "I got pinned down at my local cricket club and had red wine poured down my throat, literally down my throat," he said.
The 30-year-old said Martyn Moxon, the club’s director of cricket, "ripped shreds" off him after the stillbirth of his son in 2017. "The first day back after losing my son, Moxon literally got me in a room and ripped the shreds off me," Rafiq said, adding: "I’ve never seen him speak to anyone like that at the club."
He called the atmosphere "toxic" in the dressing room after his former teammate Gary Ballance became the team captain.
The testimony was paused for a while after he burst into tears and could not continue speaking.
The off spin bowler played for Yorkshire from 2008-14 and again from 2016-18. He first made the claims in 2020, and a report later found he was a victim of "racial harassment and bullying."
- “Harrowing and upsetting”
After the hearing, the cricket club said Rafiq’s experiences are “harrowing and upsetting.”
Lord Patel of Bradford, director and chair of the club, said Rafiq’s “courage in speaking up should be praised, and nobody should underestimate how difficult it would have been to relive all of this in public.”
He reiterated the club’s apology, and said “it should never have happened.”
Besides setting up a whistleblowing hotline for victims of discrimination, which became operational on Monday, he said the club is committed to taking further action, and will communicate the steps transparently.
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