[Lord Snooty]

Sponsors, including Yorkshire Tea, are pulling the plug on Yorkshire CCC after the Rafiq racism row.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59148419

Several sponsors have ended their partnerships with Yorkshire County Cricket Club as the fallout from the Azeem Rafiq investigation continues.

Primary sponsor Emerald Publishing and Yorkshire Tea have severed ties with the club.

Rafiq will give evidence in person to MPs into a report about allegations of racism he made against Yorkshire.

The report found Rafiq had been a victim of "racial harassment and bullying" at the club.

However, Yorkshire has said no disciplinary action would be taken.

Senior Yorkshire officials have also been called to attend the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee hearing on 16 November.

Yorkshire chairman Roger Hutton will be questioned by MPs, along with chief executive Mark Arthur and director of cricket Martyn Moxon.

Witnesses who give evidence to select committees are protected by parliamentary privilege, which means they are immune from the threat of civil or criminal proceedings relating to what they say.

On Wednesday, Emerald Publishing said that while it was withdrawing its "brand association" with Yorkshire, it would continue a financial commitment to Headingley, where the home stadium of rugby league team Leeds Rhinos is also based.

Yorkshire Tea ended its affiliation with the club with "immediate effect", while leisure club operator David Lloyd said it has chosen not to reinstate its partnership.

Tetley's beer said it had informed Yorkshire that its sponsorship would not be extended beyond the end of the current contractual agreement.

Yorkshire board should resign over report into racism allegations, says DCMS chair
Julian Knight MP has called on the board of Yorkshire County Cricket Club to resign after a leaked report emerged apparently containing details of the investigation into the treatment of Rafiq.

A story published by ESPN says the report had concluded that a racially offensive term used towards Rafiq was regarded as "banter".

Knight, chair of the DCMS select committee, called it "one of the most repellent and disturbing episodes in modern cricket history".

In a tweet, he added: "Given the endemic racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, I struggle to think of any reason why that the board should remain in post."

YCCC did not comment on any of the allegations when contacted by BBC Sport.

Knight's comments came after UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid had called for "heads to roll" at Yorkshire and said that if the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) did not take action, "it's not fit for purpose". He further stated in a Twitter post that the term allegedly used to describe Rafiq was "not banter".

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries called Rafiq's treatment "disgusting" and said "the investigation that followed only makes it even worse".

In a tweet, she added that any ECB investigation must be "swift and fully transparent. Racism must be confronted, and NEVER written off as just 'banter'".

Meanwhile, Yorkshire MPs have called on the ECB to launch an "immediate, comprehensive and independent inquiry into the racist abuse".

In the letter, they said referring to the use of a racially offensive term as "banter" was "truly abhorrent".

"Azeem Rafiq was not afforded the dignity and respect he deserved, it now falls to the ECB to ensure this degrading incident is not repeated," it read.

The ECB has begun its own investigation and a spokesperson said: "Last week, we received Yorkshire CCC's report into the racism and bullying allegations Azeem Rafiq made against the club.

''We are conscious about the length of time that Azeem has waited for resolution and the toll that must be taking on his wellbeing and that of his family. We are sorry that, as a sport, this has not yet been resolved.

''We will conduct a full regulatory process that is fair to all parties, but also ensure this happens as quickly as possible. To achieve this, we have secured the services of a QC, along with other external investigatory support to upweight resource around our process. The ECB board has also reaffirmed its commitment to further additional resource, should the investigation require it.

''We are aware that the [DCMS] Select Committee have called Yorkshire's chair, Roger Hutton, to give evidence. In the meantime, we will press ahead with our investigation.''

Last year, Rafiq claimed "institutional racism" at the club left him close to taking his own life.

Seven of the 43 allegations were upheld in a report by an independent panel.

Hutton apologised to Rafiq - who had two stints with Yorkshire, the second ending in 2018 - and said there was "no question" that during his first spell at the club he had been "the victim of racial harassment".

However, the club recently said it will not take disciplinary action against any player, employee or executive over the harassment.

Rafiq report timeline
2 September 2020: ESPN Cricinfo publishes an interview with Rafiq in which he claims "institutional racism" at Yorkshire County Cricket Club left him close to taking his own life.

3 September 2020: Yorkshire say they have launched a "formal investigation" into the claims made by Rafiq and chairman Roger Hutton says the club would be carrying out a "wider review" of their "policies and culture"

5 September 2020: Yorkshire ask an independent law firm to investigate racism allegations against the club by Rafiq.

13 November 2020: Rafiq says he hopes to bring about "meaningful change" after giving his first statement to the inquiry.

15 December 2020: Rafiq files a legal claim against Yorkshire "claiming direct discrimination and harassment on the grounds of race, as well as victimisation and detriment as a result of trying to address racism at the club".

2 February 2021: Yorkshire threaten a lifetime ban for anyone found to have made threats against Rafiq or his family and legal team after ESPN Cricinfo show them messages sent to Rafiq's legal firm.

17 June 2021: An employment tribunal case between Rafiq and his former club Yorkshire fails to find a resolution. The independent investigation into his racism allegations remains ongoing.

16 August 2021: Yorkshire receive the findings of an independent investigation into the racism allegations and, two days later, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) asks for a copy.

19 August 2021: Yorkshire, yet to release the findings of the report at this stage, admit Rafiq was "the victim of inappropriate behaviour" and offer him their "profound apologies".

Rafiq accuses Yorkshire of downplaying racism by calling him the victim of "inappropriate behaviour".

8 September 2021: MPs tell Yorkshire to publish the findings of the report "immediately".

10 September 2021: Yorkshire release the findings of the report, which says Rafiq was the "victim of racial harassment and bullying" and seven of the 43 allegations made by the player were upheld by an independent panel.

According to Hutton, the report said there was "insufficient evidence to conclude that Yorkshire County Cricket Club is institutionally racist".

Yorkshire released a summary of the panel's report and recommendations but said the full report could not be released for legal reasons "in relation to privacy law and defamation".

8 October 2021: Yorkshire miss a deadline to send the full report to Rafiq and his legal team after BBC Sport understands an employment judge ordered the club to release it in full by Friday, 8 October.

13 October 2021: Rafiq then receives a heavily redacted version, while the ECB says it is still awaiting the full report.

28 October 2021: Yorkshire says it carried out its own internal investigation after the findings in the report and concluded that "there is no conduct or action taken by any of its employees, players or executives that warrants disciplinary action".

2 November 2021: The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee calls on Hutton to appear before it to answer questions about Yorkshire's handling of a report into Rafiq's allegations of racism.

Julian Knight MP, chair of the DCMS select committee, calls on the board of Yorkshire County Cricket Club to resign after a leaked report emerges apparently containing details of the investigation into the treatment of Rafiq.

A story published by ESPN says the report had concluded that a racially offensive term used towards Rafiq was regarded as "banter".

Knight makes his comments after UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid calls for "heads to roll" at Yorkshire and said that if the ECB did not take action "it's not fit for purpose". He further states in a Twitter post that the term allegedly used to describe Rafiq was "not banter".

3 November 2021: The date of the DCMS hearing is scheduled for 16 November and Rafiq is called to give evidence in person, along with senior Yorkshire officials.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

I was genuinely gobsmacked yesterday when it came out that someone had used that racial slur as a nickname for him. I mean, on one level I'm inclined to think that it probably *was* intended as banter, because I struggle to believe that even the thickest racist on earth would actually toss that kind of stuff around in a 21st century workplace and expect no punishment for it, but even so, why would you cross that line even if you meant it as a joke? And madness for Yorkshire to try and sweep it under the carpet, too. Sponsors have every right to pull out if their own image is at risk of being tainted by association.

It's reaching the point where I'm starting to feel like the last sane person on earth, but surely it's not that difficult to find a happy medium between "this cricketer cracked some edgy jokes as a teenager a decade ago and then grew out of it, let's try and end his career," and "this cricketer repeatedly used racial slurs as nicknames for his teammate, he's a proper character, let's pretend it never happened."

[Lord Snooty]

Well, well, well!

Gary Ballance has admitted he was the one. So why hasn't he been sacked?

[ritchiebaby]

It might depend on what Rafiq said to him, and perhaps others. Ballance seems to suggest that he was responsible for "some" of the offensive terms, but not all. As Ballance says, sometimes best friends miscall each other in an attempt at "banter". I know I did when I was a young man, but we were all white men, so the words would not be considered too controversial nowadays.

As already stated these racial terms should not be said nowadays and would not be considered banter. But context is everything and I feel a lot more detail is still to come out.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Just caught up with Ballance's statement, and to be fair to him, he acknowledges he was wrong and owns the mistake. His story about it being two drunken best mates trying to out-dickhead each other seems plausible, and crucially, in his subsequent statement Rafiq hasn't disputed Ballance's framing of the incident - including the allegation that Rafiq came out with equally offensive stuff in that exchange - which feels to me like a tacit admission that it's true.

I agree that we need to wait on the full facts and details from here, but it all has the feeling of a messy divorce being dragged out in public, dirty laundry aired, etc. Yorkshire have definitely got a lot of questions to answer, but I sense that no one's going to come out of this smelling of roses.

[Lord Snooty]

What I don't understand is this. Rafiq wasn't at the time, the only Asian player in the squad. And there have been others since.
Unless I've missed it, why is it only Rafiq speaking up? Are they too afraid to? Was there no more incidents?

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Well, quite. And the thrust of Ballance's position appears to be: "We were best mates for years after the incident in question, we supported each other through thick and thin, you even stayed at my family home and invited me to your wedding. Why bring this up in public a decade after the fact when you could have just discussed it with me in person at any time?" If that's all true, then they're valid questions to ask.

[jjamez]

There has been others mention it like rana Naveed from Pakistan, Yorkshire need to sack moxon, Arthur and any others who were there at the time, otherwise they risk ruining the future of the club full stop and for what, ego? Ineptitude?

They should be given no golden handshake, just a full on termination of services. Rebuild, once they've gone and the club appointment a completely unrelated board and staff then the sponsorship will come back, they only left because of what this current board and staff are associated with.

Failure to do so and I'm afraid Yorkshire CCC will be in a very precarious position in regards to even being an entity

[theo_luddite]

Well the ECB have now told them to get their act together. No more International matches at Headingley until the Board starts falling on their swords.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59169535

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Michael Vaughan now implicated in using racial slurs. Rafiq seems to be taking a position that he doesn't want this to become about individuals, but the wider dressing-room culture and the institutional mechanisms for dealing with complaints. That may well be in response to Ballance's statement about the two of them remaining friends long after the drunken "banter" incident; reading between the lines, I guess Rafiq's saying that he considers that case to be an example of the kind of culture that's fostered at the club, rather than something he wants Ballance to be personally dragged over the coals for. Nevertheless, Ballance has been suspended pending investigation.

Another fresh allegation is that in a match featuring Rafiq, Adil Rashid, Ajmal Shahzad and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, one teammate remarked as they took the field, "There's too many of you lot. We need to have a word about that." Again, impossible to tell from the words alone whether it was meant as humour or not, but it's a catastrophically dodgy thing to say even as a joke, and obviously downright racist if it was meant seriously. The player in question is still anonymous as far as I know, but it's looking worse and worse for Yorkshire by the day.

EDITED TO ADD: It is, in fact, Michael Vaughan who's alleged to have made the "too many of you lot" comment. He emphatically denies it.