Azeem Rafiq: Government to 'step in' if Yorkshire and ECB do not take 'real action'

Azeem Rafiq played for Yorkshire between 2008 and 2018 and captained the club in a Twenty20 match

The UK government is ready to "step in" if Yorkshire and the ECB do not take "real action" following the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal.

A report found former Yorkshire player Rafiq was a victim of "racial harassment and bullying" but the county said it would not discipline anyone.

Sport and culture minister Chris Philp said that was "unacceptable".

"Parliament is watching, the government is watching and the country is watching," he said.

"We expect real action and the government stands ready to step in and take action if they do not put their own house in order."

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Philp, standing in for culture secretary Nadine Dorries, was responding to an Urgent Question on the issue in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

He called on the rest of the Yorkshire board to resign after chairman Roger Hutton and two members stepped down last week, saying: "If there is anybody left from that regime, they should resign as well."

Philp also said any investigation must be public in order to allow the country and Parliament to "fully scrutinise them" and to "restore the public's belief" in the sport.

"The conduct of Yorkshire Cricket Club in this matter, by trying to brush it under the carpet and ignore it, is completely unacceptable," he said.

"The conduct of the cricket club has no justification whatsoever, it is disgraceful, and we unreservedly condemn it.

"Where players are found to have committed acts of racism they should suffer consequences."

Rafiq detailed his experiences at Yorkshire, which left him close to taking his own life, for the first time in September 2020.

In September 2021, a year after the former player went public with his allegations, Yorkshire released its own summary findings of the report and subsequently said no-one would be disciplined.

But the investigation was widely criticised after it reportedly found a racist term about Rafiq's Pakistani heritage was regularly used towards him while at the club and concluded it was "friendly and good-natured banter".

On Friday, Hutton resigned and on Monday Lord Patel took over, apologising to Rafiq and praising his "bravery" as a whistleblower.

Further details are expected to emerge at a Department for Culture, Media and Sport hearing on 16 November, which has legal privilege.

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