Essex fined over racist comments made during board meeting in 2017

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have fined Essex £50,000 for their racist comments during a board meeting in 2017. Former chairman John Faragher has been held guilty for making the racist comment, however, he has denied making it. ECB’s cricket discipline commission, which handled the case, confirmed that £15,000 of the fine has been suspended for two years for Essex.

This is not the first time that ECB has taken action against racist acts inside the country. It has become one of the serious issues and the sporting bodies have been trying their best to ensure that any case regarding the matter has been investigated properly. Azeem Rafiq’s case was one of the much talked-about incidents for a long time as he revealed the racist acts inside the dressing room during his playing days.

Two charges imposed on Essex for the racial comments

It has to be noted that the two charges that have been imposed on Essex are due to the reasons that Faragher used the terminology “n***** in the woodpile” and the club has been charged for not conducting further investigation on the matter. Following the allegations, Faragher resigned from the position in November 2021, however, the panel had stated that chief executive John Stephenson is “all within his power” to take internal action against the racism incident.

Notably, Essex was charged in February with a breach of ECB Directive 3.3 which states, “No participant may conduct themself in a manner or do any act or omission at any time which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the ECB, the game of cricket or any cricketer or group of cricketers into disrepute.”

Also, the panel stated that the club has been trying to resolve the internal issues which played a big part in the club not paying much attention to the racism incident.