Azeem Rafiq says racism rife in English cricket; recounts ‘inhuman’ treatment at Yorkshire
The Hindu
The former Yorkshire spinner tells British parliamentary panel of intolerable insults
Former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq broke down in tears on Tuesday as he told a British parliamentary committee of "inhuman" treatment at the cricket club and described the sport in England as riddled with racism.
In more than an hour of questioning by members of parliament, Rafiq, 30, an offspin bowler and former captain of the England Under-19s of Pakistani descent, catalogued a damning culture of widespread racism at Yorkshire.
He and other players with Asian backgrounds were subjected to comments such as "You lot sit over there" and routinely referred to as "Paki", Rafiq said. "I felt isolated, humiliated at times," he added in emotional testimony to the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) panel.