Yorkshire County Cricket Club fined £400,000 and docked points over Azeem Rafiq racism scandal

Yorkshire County Cricket Club has been fined £400,000 and had a total of 52 points deducted over its handling of the racism scandal linked to former player Azeem Rafiq.

Most of the points - 48 - will be deducted from the club's County Championship total, which will leave them bottom of Division Two, while a further four will be lost from its tally in the T20 Blast.

Three quarters of the financial penalty - £300,000 - has been suspended for two years.

The Headingley club, which admitted four charges following an investigation by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said it "accepts the sanctions" imposed by the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC).

At the end of March, former England captain Michael Vaughan was cleared by the CDC of a racism charge of making derogatory comments towards a group of Yorkshire teammates of Asian ethnicity.

Five other players - John Blain, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale, Matthew Hoggard, and Richard Pyrah, who all failed to cooperate with the CDC hearings, were found to have used racist and/or discriminatory language towards Rafiq and others - while Yorkshire County Cricket Club and batter Gary Ballance admitted charges against them.

The chief executive of the ECB, Richard Gould, has described the abuse experienced by former Yorkshire cricketer Rafiq as "poisonous" for the game.

"We accept the sanctions against Yorkshire County Cricket Club imposed by the Cricket Discipline Commission," Yorkshire (YCCC) said in a statement.

It added: "The CDC and ECB have today acknowledged the vast amount of work done by YCCC to overcome the cultural issues that existed within the club, which allowed racist and discriminatory behaviour to go unchallenged.

"We are accountable for these issues, and we accepted four amended charges as part of a continued commitment to ensure we are able to move forward.

"We are disappointed to receive the points deductions which affect players and staff at the club who were not responsible for the situation."

Read more:
English cricket condemned as racist, sexist and classist in damning new report
Gary Ballance apologises to Azeem Rafiq

Mr Gould said: "These were serious charges relating to racism over a prolonged period. There can be no place for racism in our game, and the penalties announced by the Cricket Discipline Commission mark the end of a thorough disciplinary process.

"No one should have to experience what Azeem Rafiq went through in cricket, and we once again thank him for his courage in speaking out."

He said Yorkshire County Cricket Club has made "significant progress since Azeem came forward" and "is committed to becoming an inclusive club".