Racism in cricket: 'Subconscious institutional racism issue in Scotland' says administrator
- Published
Cricket in Scotland has a "subconscious" institutional racism issue, claims an administrator with the country's biggest regional union.
Parvase Majeed of the Western District Cricket Union says he has been a victim of abuse while umpiring.
He and others in the game now plan to make Cricket Scotland aware of further instances of discrimination.
"The problem is with institutional racism and a lot of that is subconscious," he told BBC Scotland.
"There are lots of other cases coming up. A number of people have been coming forward. I reckon it will grow arms and legs and the reason for that is the associations don't listen."
Majeed, a non-executive committee member with the union that organises and promotes cricket in the west of Scotland, aims to take these complaints to the national governing body.
He hopes to be joined by former internationals Qasim Sheikh and Majid Haq and "three or four others as a collective".
"Some of it is racism, some of it is cultural," he explained to BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime, while pointing out that around 70% of WDCU players are from a BAME background.
"There has to be some kind of formal inquiry. It's something for all sport in Scotland to consider. It's something that has been there all the time."
Sheikh spoke to the BBC on Tuesday about language used during his time in the Scotland dressing room making him feel uncomfortable, while Haq has called for an investigation, highlighting the lack of opportunities for ethnic minorities in coaching and at boardroom level.
Sportscotland said it is "vital" that all complaints of racism are "robustly investigated".
A spokesperson for the governing body said the four UK sport councils had found that that "racism and racial inequalities still exist and that there are longstanding issues, which have resulted in ethnically diverse communities being consistently disadvantaged".
The statement closed with: "We are in close contact with Cricket Scotland and will continue to work with them on this very serious issue."