Ashes Test in doubt as iconic venue banned

3 years ago 285

English cricket nine Yorkshire has been suspended from hosting planetary matches arsenic punishment for its handling of a racism lawsuit that has shaken the sport.

The England and Wales Cricket Board slammed the nine for its "wholly unacceptable" effect to the racism faced by erstwhile subordinate Azeem Rafiq.

A fig of Yorkshire's sponsors person deserted the beleaguered club, and the ECB said the lawsuit "is causing superior harm to the estimation of the game."

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"The ECB find this substance abhorrent and against the tone of cricket and its values," the governing assemblage said successful a statement.

Yorkshire's Headingley Stadium is scheduled to big England's trial against New Zealand and a men's one-day planetary against South Africa successful 2022, arsenic good arsenic an Ashes test against Australia successful 2023.

But the ECB said the nine is "suspended from hosting planetary oregon large matches until it has intelligibly demonstrated that it tin conscionable the standards expected of an planetary venue."

Yorkshire said past period that it would not instrumentality immoderate disciplinary enactment against immoderate of its employees, players oregon executives contempt a study that recovered that Rafiq — 1 of its erstwhile captains — was the unfortunate of radical harassment and bullying.

Rafiq, a erstwhile England under-19 captain, said successful interviews past twelvemonth that arsenic a Muslim helium was made to consciousness similar an "outsider" during his clip astatine Yorkshire from 2008-18 and that helium was adjacent to taking his ain life.

A ceremonial autarkic probe was commissioned by Yorkshire into much than 40 allegations made by Rafiq, with 7 of them upheld successful a study released past month.

On Wednesday, erstwhile England cricketer Gary Ballance admitted utilizing a radical slur against Rafiq erstwhile they were teammates astatine Yorkshire, but said that "this was a concern wherever champion friends said violative things to each different which, extracurricular of that context, would beryllium considered wholly inappropriate."

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