Pakistan-origin cricketer Azim Rafiq, who made explosive allegations of racism against county side Yorkshire that forced him to make far-reaching changes to his club structure, was invited to watch the third day of the Test match between England and New Zealand on Saturday. it was done. And the 31-year-old was enjoying his journey.
Nearly two years after the cricketer went public about allegations of racial harassment and bullying at Headingley, which forced the club to implement far-reaching governance reforms and ratify board appointments, Rafiq returned to the field for the first time.
After the revelations, England and Wales Cricket The Board (ECB) took strong action in November last year to ban Headingley from hosting any international games. To improve the club’s image, Lord Kamlesh Patel took over as president from Roger Hutton. The club’s entire coaching and support staff were asked to leave, and Yorkshire gradually began making new appointments to the vacant positions.
Ryfak said on Saturday the ECB did the right thing by lifting the ban on Headingley, which had pushed Yorkshire to the brink of bankruptcy.
Rafiq told City AM on Saturday: “I don’t think fans should be harmed by long-term leadership failures, and secondly, I think for the club to be able to drive through that change.” Support was needed.”
“It’s a balance of challenge and support – (hosting the Test) is vital to the club’s survival.”
The interim president of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Lord Kamlesh Patel, recently revealed that if the international cricket had not returned to the club, there was a real possibility of it going bankrupt following allegations leveled by Rafiq and others.
“If Test matches or international matches don’t come back here, we will go bankrupt. We literally were,” Patel said on the BBC’s Test Match Special ahead of the opening day of the third Test between England and New Zealand.
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