Five former Yorkshire CCC players or staff members have been found to have used racist language by an investigation into the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal but the allegations against Michael Vaughan have not been proven.
Tim Bresnan, John Blain, Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard and Richard Pyrah have all been ‘found liable for a breach of ECB Directive 3.3 for their alleged use of racist and/or discriminatory language.’
That follows an investigation by the Cricket Discipline Committee.
Gary Ballance – Rafiq’s former team-mate at Barnsley and Yorkshire – and the club have both already accepted charges against them.
Charges included using the word ‘P***’ describing Asian players as ‘you lot’ and Hoggard was accused of calling Rafiq ‘Rafa the Kaffir.’
Former England captain Vaughan was accused of saying ‘there are too many of you lot’ to a group of four Asian players, including Rafiq, before a match in 2008. He has denied that and was cleared by the committee ‘on the balance of probabilities.’
The concluding remarks of the CDC read: “These findings do not in any way undermine the wider assertions made by AZR [Rafiq], many of which of course have been confirmed by the admissions of both YCCC and certain individuals, as well as by other findings of this panel.”
It has not been announced what punishments will be handed out but Yorkshire said they were focused on ‘achieving a reasonable sanction’ in discussions with the CDC.
Yorkshire said as part of a statement: “As a club, we needed to accept and take accountability for the cultural issues which allowed racist and discriminatory behaviour to go unchallenged… In the meantime, the Board is working hard to secure the Club’s long-term future as we continue on our road to recovery, and we are making great progress in our ambition to become a more inclusive and welcoming Club for all.”
Rafiq said: “Charges against seven of the eight defendants, including the widespread use of the P word, have been upheld. This comes in addition to the other reports, panels and inquiries that found I and others suffered racial harassment and bullying while at Yorkshire. The issue has never been about individuals but the game as a whole. Cricket needs to understand the extent of its problems and address them. Hopefully, the structures of the game can now be rebuilt and institutionalised racism ended for good. It’s time to reflect, learn and implement change.”
