Azeem Rafiq to provide evidence before DCMS after pressure builds on Yorkshire club for their handling of the matter

The Yorkshire Cricket Club has been placed under major scrutiny for their handling of a report into allegations of racism. The club’s cricketer Azeem Rafiq had reported serious allegations of racism on his teammates and submitted his complaint earlier. However, now it is been reported that the entire details of his allegations of racism at Yorkshire would come to light. He was called to give evidence to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee.

The hearing is scheduled to take place on November 16 wherein Roger Hutton, the chair of Yorkshire, Mark Arthur, the chief executive, and Martyn Moxon, the club’s director of cricket have also been called to provide the evidence. The chair of the DCMS select committee, Julian Knight has expressed his disappointment on the board for their handling of this serious issue.

He took it to his Twitter account and asserted that this is one of the most disturbing episodes in modern cricket. “Given the endemic racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. I struggle to think of any reason why that the board should remain in post. This is one of the most repellents and disturbing episodes in modern cricket history,” Julian Knight wrote on Twitter.

Earlier Yorkshire club had stated that they wouldn’t take action against any of their members

The club had spent a considerable amount of time whilst waiting for a team of lawyers to put together a report into Rafiq’s allegations of racism at the club. After the report was completed, the club decided that the content was controversial to publish. Though they admitted that Rafiq was a victim of inappropriate behavior, the club denied taking action against any of their members.

Later after the reports were leaked, the public backlash compelled various political figures to intervene in this matter. British secretary Sajid David had also asked the ECB to investigate the matter and take the necessary action against the club. He also pointed that serious punishments should be given to the people who are involved in the case. “Paki’ is not banter. Heads should roll at Yorkshire CCC. If @ECB_cricket doesn’t take action it’s not fit for purpose,” he tweeted.