Rafiq’s testimony is the tip of the iceberg.. in all sport

“FIGHT fair, you black b ***** d.” That was the punchline of a gag delivered by the “entertainment” at a football awards night I attended as a young reporter for the Mirror.

It brought the house down. I’d heard enough. I left the event and went home. Only to find myself criticised the following day for not seeing the nuance in the “joke”.

I was a killjoy. A spoilsport. Especially since the joker didn’t mean it that way.

They never do. Any person who has ever had to look the other way, or walk away, from being the only Black or Asian person in the room, recognises every detail in the Yorkshire Cricket Club racism scandal.

From the individuals who stand up to be counted, to the ones with hazy recollection. From the attempts to brush it under the carpet, followed by nothingto-see-here conclusions that are shown to warrant – at the very least – further scrutiny.

We exist everywhere as survivors of a culture which so many dismiss as being “from a different time”. It is their way of attempting to escape accountability.

What about the people from that different time who didn’t use that kind of language? What about the people who didn’t see humour in sweeping cultural stereotypes?

Legality means this column has to take a step back from inferring any kind of guilt or innocence in relation to Yorkshire.

Trouble is, legality is what has allowed the cancer of racism to grow within all sport.

For years, the radio and TV stations now devoting hours to the issue would not even recognise it. Newspapers too.

It meant the burden of proof lay on the footballers of colour who would often find it was not worth the abuse and recriminations if they put their heads above the parapet.

It left the culture of intimidation and abuse outlined by Rafiq unchecked. It allowed the accused to deny responsibility. How could it be them when they were such titans for club or country? How could it be, as they were such good blokes, or women?

It also put athletes across sport through pain no individual should ever have to face.

In addition, as Rafiq made clear at the Select Committee hearing, Black or Asian athletes would be dismissed as “playing the race card” if they told the truth.

As a result, many – too many – would try to engage with the fun being enjoyed at their expense until it all became too much.

“I was in denial,” said Rafiq when asked why he returned to Yorkshire. “For a person of colour to accept you are being treated differently because of race or religion is tough to take.”

But what m’learned friends will never be able to do is wipe away the tenacity of the men like him who have the courage to change the things they could. When Rafiq talks about himself and his teammates being called “elephant washers” and “P***s”; when he talks about humiliation; or about having to take medication for his mental health; there are black and brown people inside and outside sport who know exactly where he is coming from.

Sport has a fixation with the abuse on the outside and in the stands - yet has been incapable of addressing abuse on the inside.

The lack of Black and Asian decision makers has not helped. What follows next will be the usual raft of pledges, money committed to fighting the problems and hand-wringing by people who should have done their jobs in the first place.

But in unfashionable clubs and counties with unfashionable players it will continue – and it won’t get the column inches it needs.

Rafiq’s testimony is the tip of the iceberg. Not just in cricket, in sport.

Sport fixates on abuse on the outside & in the stands but has never addressed it on the inside