England spinner, Adil Rashid has supported Azeem Rafiq’s allegation that Michael Vaughan was openly racist when competing for Yorkshire. Rashid, who was one of four players existing at the scene of the incident, has verified Vaughan’s racist statements earlier in the day.
The recent episode at the Yorkshire County Cricket Club (CCC) does not look to be concluded, as new facts continue to emerge. Michael Vaughan, the Former Ashes-winning England skipper, said a few days earlier that he was named in the club’s analysis of Azeem Rafiq’s allegations.
Although Vaughan officially dismissed the allegations, it was found that Azeem had stated that in a 2009 incident, the ex-cricketer had disputed a set of players of Asian heritage at the club. The statement was supported by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, a Pakistani ex-cricketer who was there at the moment at the Yorkshire club.
I can confirm Azeem Rafiq’s recollection of Michael Vaughan’s comments to a group of us Asian players: Adil Rashid
As Rashid now admits the incident, Vaughan’s illustrious post-retirement media career is in trouble. Only after allegations emerged, he was forced to resign from his BBC radio program. But he continued to ignore the allegations. Rashid’s confession now has greater weight in the dispute, considering the spin bowler’s international reputation as a cricketer. He agreed that Vaughan indeed had said, “There are too many of you lot; we need to do something about it.”
The statement of Rashid reads, “Racism is a cancer in all walks of life and unfortunately in professional sports too, and is something which of course has to be stamped out. I wanted to concentrate as much as possible on my cricket and to avoid distractions to the detriment of the team but I can confirm Azeem Rafiq’s recollection of Michael Vaughan’s comments to a group of us Asian players.”
In addition to Vaughan, Gary Ballance was mentioned in the report. The left-handed hitter stepped out and acknowledged using the word ‘P**i’ in the changing room against Azeem. He did, therefore, say that it was done as part of their friendship.
Yorkshire has had a number of setbacks in recent times. The club was prohibited from staging any international games and lost numerous sponsorships as a result. Just what would happen to the club, its identity, and the reputations of its players remains to be certain.
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