WHISTLEBLOWER PRAISES THE PLAYERS

YORKSHIRE whistleblower Azeem Rafiq has praised former Scotland cricketers Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh for speaking out over the racist abuse they suffered during their international careers. Rafiq made his own allegations of institutional racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club after revealing in 2020 that he was suicidal due to the repeated racism he was subjected to while involved in cricket. ‘I’ve got quite close to Majid and Qasim since I spoke out,’ Rafiq told Sky Sports. ‘I’m just incredibly proud of them and everyone else that played a part in the review. ‘I hope today gives them some sense of closure and that they’ve been fully vindicated.’ He added: ‘Today is a start. The one thing I would be a little bit hesitant about is let’s not look too far into the future straight away. ‘It’s very important to stay in the problem. There’s a lot of people that have suffered a lot of abuse over a lot of years. There’s got to be an attempt to build those bridges back, speak to them, re-engage them, apologise. Once that is done, and only then, it’s important to look to the future — and how we do that. ‘As I’ve seen over the last nine months or so, there’s a lot of words, a lot of ticked boxes and a lot of attempts to show that things are happening but actually, deep down, fundamentally things are not changing.’ But Rafiq doesn’t think Cricket Scotland’s funding should be cut at this stage, saying: ‘If there’s an acceptance and an apology, then they need to supported to make sure the change comes — and comes quicker. ‘If things don’t change and if there’s a resistance to change, then I think at that point sportscotland need to come down a lot harsher. ‘But I think at this stage it’s really important that we support the game in getting the change that we all want.’