Cricket fans worldwide were holding their breath, waiting for a result, but this was not the outcome of Australia A tour of New Zealand. It was the outcome of the ECB charging Michael Vaughan with racial comments towards four Yorkshire players of Asian ethnicity in 2009, which he denied.
To recap – back in November 2021, Sky News reported that former England cricketer Gary Ballance admitted using a racial slur against ex-Yorkshire teammate Azeem Rafiq. As part of an ongoing three-year investigation, Michael Vaughan and six others were charged by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) with making a racist comment towards Rafiq, Adil Rashid, Ajmal Shahzad and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan before a Yorkshire game in 2009.
On the 31 March 2023, the independent Cricket Discipline Committee (CDC) panel cleared Vaughan of the charge and issued an appeal for people to address racism in cricket. The England & Wales Cricket Board chair made a statement addressing the verdicts and Azeem Rafiq’s courage in speaking out about racism in cricket.
While appeals have been granted for those found guilty and will be dealt with later, leading discrimination lawyer and sports equality advisor Yunus Lunat believes that the Michael Vaughan finding may have taken the focus away from the gravity of Rafiq’s complaints, most of which were found proved.
In an interview for BBC Yorkshire about the case, Lunat praised the process and insisted it was fair and transparent, evidenced by the fact that the charge against Vaughan was found not proven on the evidence. He highlighted the problem for the other players charged was that they did not engage with the process and was critical of their refusals. He was critical of the attacks made on the investigations and disciplinary process and referenced similar conduct in other areas including by the former PM Boris Johnson and former US President Donald Trump and said “such unfounded allegations undermine accountability and democracy. The irony is that repeated studies have shown that such processes including the justice system are biased against ethnic minorities. Despite this ethnic minorities have always respected and engaged with such processes. Is it now fair game for ethnic minorities to refuse to engage?” – He went on to emphasise that in the Vaughan case the difficulty for the ECB was that it was unable to prove that the alleged words spoken by Vaughan were as relied upon in the charge. This is a difficult task when the witnesses were asked to provide statements 14 years after the incident.
Lunat is critical of the ECB including the lengthy delays in raising the charges and questioned if the ECB even had a process to deal with discrimination at the time. He said. “I do a lot of anti – discrimination work in football and if this was football, then the FA would have come under scrutiny and severe criticism for the process and decision. The ECB has escaped scrutiny post decision.
“I do a lot of anti – discrimination work in football and if this was football, then the FA would have come under scrutiny and severe criticism for the process and decision. The ECB has escaped scrutiny post decision.” Yunus Lunat
“It seems the ECB disciplinary process only started after Azeem’s appearance before the DCMS in November 2021, quite some time after the allegations were first raised as far back as August 2020 in the Wisden interview.”
The lawyer went on to make his observations that the case was very much based on the way in which the charge was brought by the ECB and that it was unfortunate that Rafiq did not come out of this case unscathed; with his reputation and honesty being questioned.
In his opinion “this risks discouraging victims from coming forward with complaints, and losing the momentum and progress society seeks to make since the Black Lives protests.”
While Michael Vaughan’s fondness of tweeting comments about the ethnicity of those who work for 118 118 was put forward as evidence of his unconscious bias.
Racism in sport is common knowledge and comes as no surprise to anyone; what is surprising, though, is an institution like cricket had no process to deal with issues when they arise. It’s unlikely there haven’t been problems and, therefore, guidelines and processes were not needed; it’s more likely that no one shouted loud enough until now. The first whistle-blower will always go the way of the messenger – dead in the water but what happens next could bring on real change.
The importance of addressing institutional racism is paramount; perpetuating it can have severe consequences for future generations’ performance levels within cricket. There are plenty of losers in this case, and Vaughan’s dismissal may have surprised many – but probably not.
Some will now celebrate Vaughan’s vindication while also pointing to the less admirable qualities of Rafiq, dragged across the world’s stage for standing up to racism. But Rafiq was part of this and was just as brutalised by it as those around him. He had the right to object, and for that – he is the closest thing to a victor in all this.
Whatever the outcome of such cases might be, now more than ever, we must have conversations about racism in cricket and everywhere else. It’s time to break the silence and speak out against discrimination in all its forms. To ensure everyone is given a fair chance, regardless of race or background. We must ensure that cricket remains open and accessible for all – no matter who they are.
In the current climate of institutional racism in the fire service, Metropolitan Police and most recently, the RFU, the ultimate goal should be fairness and justice for everyone, so it’s essential to keep learning and ensure we never forget our past. Only then can we strive towards a brighter future. It is time to break the silence and fight back against racism in cricket and around the world.
(article amended on 19/04/23 at 19.31)
