The former chair of Cricket Scotland has been revealed as a friend of far-right politician Nigel Farage.
Anjan Luthra was appointed chair of Scottish cricket’s governing body last October. His appointment came after an inquiry, which had been ordered by Scottish Government agency Sportscotland, found it had failed on 29 out of 31 tests of institutional racism.
It led to the entire Cricket Scotland board resigning. However, Luthra resigned just six months after being appointed.
It can now been revealed Luthra is friends with Farage and planned to get the former UKIP leader involved in the sport in Scotland. The link emerged from text messages between Luthra and former Scotland cricketer Majid Haq, who claimed last year he has been a victim of racism.
A message from Luthra to Haq, sent in August, mentioned Farage and a third party. It read: “He is a good friend of Nigel and introduced me a few months ago.”
Three days later, Luthra sent Haq photos of himself with Farage at events before he was appointed as Cricket Scotland chair – and boasted about the powerful network the politician could bring to the game. He said: “He is some character. He is very smart man. Knows exactly what he’s doing and how to play the media.”
Later that month, Luthra sent Haq a picture of himself with Farage at a dinner and said: “Please don’t share this, lol. His network is very, very powerful. If I do this with Cricket Scotland I will be able to bring in some serious people which I have been introduced via him.
“Maj, his network is insane. He knows the most influential people in the world.”
Haq replied tongue-in-cheek: “A racist institution appoints far-right leader. I can just imagine the headline.”
Luthra responded: “Ha ha ha, I know. I need to think about it. It wouldn’t look good. It could be a deal breaker.”
Another ex-Scotland cricketer, Qasim Sheikh, who has also claimed to be a victim of racism, added: “Six months ago, I gave Luthra support on his appointment as the new Cricket Scotland chair. Although I was sceptical of his intentions due to his friendship with the darling of the far-right Nigel Farage, he was full of promises, claiming to be a problem solver. But, in the end, he was a miserable failure.”
Haq added: “I am sick of the excuses, the blame culture and the denials. It doesn’t matter to me who becomes the chair – white, black or brown.
“What I do care about is that they fight to eradicate all discrimination in our sport.
“As for Anjan Luthra, he is irrelevant now.”
Luthra faced criticism after claiming that progress was being made, leading to four members of an advisory group to resign. He was approached for comment.
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