The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has charged Yorkshire Country Cricket Club and seven unnamed people following an investigation regarding allegations of racist abuse.
English cricket was thrown into chaos after Azeem Rafiq said in September 2020 that he had suffered 'racism, harassment and bullying' at Yorkshire, whom he represented across three separate stints. The case will now move towards a hearing, which could carry potential sentences for the alleged culprits.
"I welcome today's announcement by the ECB and hope we can move to the hearing quickly," wrote Rafiq in a statement published via his official Twitter account. "This has been another gruelling but unfortunately necessary process. It has been a long two years since I went public with my experiences, but I hope this all means no young player ever goes through such pain and alienation again.
"My preference would be for this hearing to take place publicly, but I am hopeful we are at least nearing a point where there will be some sense of closure for my family and me."
Those charged are understood to have been found in violation of "ECB directive 3.3 – conduct which is improper or which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the ECB, the game of cricket or any cricketer into disrepute – and of its anti-discrimination code."
An independent panel of the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) will handle the hearings, which are expected to take place in September and October. The findings from said hearings should be made public, something the ECB said is 'standard practice'.
Sixteen members of staff at Yorkshire were sacked in the wake of the Rafiq scandal. However, former head coach, Andrew Gale, and six other ex-members of the club recently completed the first part of an unfair dismissal case against their old employers who believe the sackings were 'necessary and justified.'
Former England internationals Gary Ballance, Matthew Hoggard, Tim Bresnan and Alex Hales were among those named in Rafiq's testimony while Rafiq also claimed that Ballance used "Kevin" as a derogatory term towards ethnic minorities, and Hales named his dog the same.
Rafiq has also accused ex-Yorkshire teammate Michael Vaughan of saying there were "too many of your lot" at Yorkshire in 2009. Former England captain Vaughan has refuted the claims.
