A report into Cricket Scotland has found them to be institutionally racist, as Paisley cricketer, Majid Haq, admits it is a relief that the report has held the Cricket Scotland board to account.
Monday afternoon was a big day in sport for Scotland after an independent review had found that the governing body of Scottish cricket were racist in their practices and governance of the sport.
The review into Cricket Scotland had found that 29 out of 31 tests used to measure the problems within the sport were failed by the governing body. Whilst the remaining two were deemed to have just passed the test, something that raised awareness in the report too.
One player who has been affected by racism has been former Scottish National player Majid Haq, who has spoken out in the past about the treatment of himself and others in the national team.
Speaking on Twitter after the report was published, Majid Haq thanked leading criminal defence lawyer, Amamer Anwar, and ex Scottish cricketer Qasim Sheikh for sticking by his side: “ Standing shoulder to shoulder with a couple of champions this afternoon @AamerAnwar @sheikhyssj1 that found @CricketScotland to be overwhelmingly Institutionally racist. I can’t thank Aamer enough who has fought my corner for 7.5 years & never took a penny from me. #ProBono”
Haq played for the Scottish National team from 2002 until 2015 when he left due to the unfair treatment he was receiving from the organisation. The cricketer was asked to apologise for suggesting that he was omitted from the 2015 World Cup squad on racial grounds, something that he says he believed in at the time.
Haq, compared his incident with one of the current Scottish National Team captains who expressed his frustration from being omitted from the squad in the same year three months later, with the difference being he was “welcomed back with open arms” according to Haq.
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As the cricketer expresses his delight in the report highlighting those who did wrong to be held accountable, he feels that there is a lack of transparency in the way that the board have left.
The day before the report was released, it was confirmed that the cricket board had resigned, however, Haq feels that it should be disclosed as to has resigned due to the size of the board, as he tweed: “We are told the @CricketScotland board have resigned but can we see the names of all them that left for some transparency. The Board consists of about a dozen people. Which ones have actually left or have they all left?”
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