ECB: cricket board ask for YCCC to be fined £500,000 and deducted points - Azeem Rafiq case explained

Yorkshire should be fined £500,000 and given a hefty points deduction across all formats over the handling of the Azeem Rafiq case, says England and Wales Cricket Board. The news comes shortly after the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket published a damning 317-page report which detailed that racism, sexism, elitism and classism was “widespread”.

These sanction recommendations were made to an independent Cricket Discipline Commission panel in London on Tuesday after Yorkshire admitted to four charges back in February which related to Rafiq’s case - mishandling the case; the deletion of documents related to it and a failure to address the use of racist language at the club over a prolonged period.

Six former Yorkshire employees were handed sanctions in May, after all of them were found to have used racially charged language, including the word P***, with a seventh - former England captain Michael Vaughan - cleared of using racist and/or discriminatory language towards a group of four players of Asian ethnicity, of which Rafiq was one, before a Twenty20 match in 2009.

Any financial sanction would hit the club exceptionally hard and the Yorkshire chief executive, Stephen Vaughan, highlighted to members at the annual general meeting in March that there was a £3.5 million cash shortfall this year and they need to repay £14.9 million to the Graves Trust.

What has the ECB said?

According to a PA statement, the ECB has recommended a fine of half a million pounds: £100,000 for the mishandling of the report; £100,000 for the wholesale deletion of data; £150,000 for failing to take adequate action relating to the racist behaviour and £150,000 in relation to charge four, systemic use of racist language over a long period.

The governing body has suggested that £350,000 should be suspended for three years while the remaining £150,000 should be payable in instalments between January and June 2024.

ECB lawyer Jane Mulcahy said the recommendations took into account the finances of Yorkshire and it would be “wholly unproductive” to put Yorkshire out of business, insisting the ECB “is not trying to do such a thing”.

The recommendation also claimed the “seriousness of the admissions” required sporting sanctions and proposed a 48-72 points deduction in the 2023 County Championship, a four-to-six points deduction in the 2023 One-Day Cup and a four-to-six points deduction in the 2023 T20 Blast.

What’s been said?

Yorkshire has responded to the recommendations through their lawyer Daniel Stilitz, who spoke of the “deeply regrettable chapter” in the club’s history, once again offering their apologies to Rafiq.

Stilitz said there was “absolutely no evidence” to suggest the deletion of emails had taken place because of the ongoing case and said the club had not ignored racist behaviour from supporters previously.

Stilitz also said Yorkshire had already “suffered detriment” because of the events, asking for that to be taken into account in any sanctions passed down and saying “If ever a sinner has repented, it is Yorkshire Cricket Club”.

“What is striking about this case is how far beyond sometimes slightly symbolic measures that Yorkshire has gone,” he said.

“We do submit that it’s difficult to think of a case in which an organisation which has embraced so forcefully the opportunity to transform itself in this regard. In fairness, the ECB has accepted in their submissions… that the club has undertaken significant EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) action in respect of all aspects of its operation.

“The last two years have been some of the most difficult in the club’s entire history… Yorkshire is not the only club to have issues with racism, as the ICEC (Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket) report today acknowledges.

“Nor is cricket the only sport to have done so. But really Yorkshire has been a lightning rod for concerns about racism in sports and its reputation, performance and finances have suffered and continue to suffer as a result.”