Four men attended the Disney-themed party, apparently wearing leather boots and green and gold to represent the Jamaican bobsleigh team that inspired the successful 1993 film Cool Runnings. A photo taken last night shows the men from the Sileby Town Cricket Club smiling at the chair, Nigel Kinch, who is also president of the Leicestershire and Rutland cricket leagues, which is at the top of the competition for amateur cricket clubs. Umar Razaq, 31, a Siston Town player who had previously been called an ap *** by a Sileby player, shared the photo on Facebook and apologized. But instead of issuing one, he says Kinch called him to a disciplinary hearing for violating social media policy. “This guy is the protagonist of the 38-team league,” Razaq said. “I just wanted him to acknowledge that the blackface is wrong and apologize publicly for not letting the younger players retire. It was his party at his cricket club and he should have sent these boys home ashamed, not photographed with them. Acts that are unforgivable are justified. What kind of example does he give? “I tried to provoke it and I was chased.” Azeem Rafiq, the former Yorkshire player whose testimony to a select parliamentary committee revealed institutional racism in the professional game, said he was watching Umar’s fight on social media. “Umar was incredibly brave talking about his experiences. It is becoming increasingly clear that research must be done on the cultures of each county in order to find the root of institutional racism in cricket. Again, we read about a victim who was abused and is not heard from. The game must change otherwise we will lose a generation of aspiring cricketers. “ An ECB spokesman said: “As with any allegations of discrimination, Umar’s allegations need to be thoroughly investigated. “As these issues have not yet been resolved, we will now investigate and also provide independent support to find a solution.” Razaq said: “I am relieved that the ECB is taking this seriously, as I have taken it to the top of Leicestershire County Cricket Club and no one has done anything. “My case really reflects that of Azeem. Like all Asian players at all levels, I had tolerated years of racism because I wanted to play and racism was just part of the game that we all felt we had to tolerate. “But last October I decided that was enough when [the member] returned to the club having called me ap *** in the past and served only a brief ban. I called him to apologize on social media and I was trolled by people talking about white power. Like Azeem, people turned to me because I was racist. “So I shared the photo of the party [taken in 2014] which was still open on a Sileby player’s Facebook page. An apology would be over. Instead, I was reported to the police for harassment, although to no avail, and I asked for disciplinary action for violating social media instructions. I could not believe it. Another Sileby player called a woman who texted me to support c-word on social media. “There is clearly a worrying culture in this club and it is even more worrying that the chair is responsible for the league.” The image Razaq complained about. Nigel Kinch is on the bottom right. Razaq was eventually invited to speak on an independent panel, chaired by Leicestershire CCC CEO Sean Jarvis, in the county. Attendee Paul Joy, director of the Northamptonshire Cricket Committee, told the meeting that the issue was the limited demographics of tournament administrators and committees who were usually 50-70 years old or older and resilient to change. According to official records, Jarvis promised to enforce the change, set up an open forum to facilitate it, and invited Razaq to be at the center. However, four months later, Razaq says nothing has changed. “It was an outstanding exercise. No apologies yet. Keynes is still president, [the member] he is still playing, “he said. On the eve of the panel, Sileby posted a link to an apology on his website, entitled “club statement” only without reference to the subject. He said the photo was taken at a private event at the club where the fancy dress was the Disney theme. He apologized to “every person affected by the incidents… and to every person who feels that he has experienced any form of discrimination from our club”. Razaq said: “Sorry if anyone was offended, no sorry, it was wrong. And no one bothered to contact me to apologize. The statement was not visible, it did not have a tag, you had to click to find it otherwise you would not know it existed. “Mr. Kinz has remained silent on his part.” The controversy pushed a player from Silebi, Umar Afzal, to leave his team. He says he had endured years of racial prejudice dressed as a prankster in the locker room. “Now I feel ashamed and angry with myself for not taking a position earlier,” he said. “Everything was so normal that I did not even realize how bad it was. A black gambler came with us and left after a game because of the constant racist stereotypes that he is a gangster and a drug dealer. A player from the Philippines was nicknamed Yellow Man. Racism was like a disease in Sileby. “It was just part of the culture.” Under the current system, no independent body regulates the entertainment game, although players can report any problems to the ECB through its website. Kinch, Sileby Town, Leicestershire and Rutland League, Leicestershire County Cricket Club and Sean Jarvis failed to respond to repeated requests for comment. Jarvis said he had referred the matter to the ECB. A spokesman for the Committee on Equality and Human Rights said: “There is no room for racism in sports, in the workplace or anywhere in our society. “We urge all sports clubs to look into what they are doing to address discrimination and harassment, so that no one involved in the sport, whether as an amateur or a professional, suffers racism that has unfortunately been experienced by others in the past.” Many Asians have made themselves feel so unwelcome in the dominant leagues and clubs that have created their own up and down the country. Tom Brown, who helped found the South Asian Cricket Academy after studying the many obstacles that prevent British Asians from entering the professional game, said: “System”, while A more detailed lens could show their existence as proof that the current system is not comprehensive enough “Leisure leagues are often inadequate to deal with complaints about such issues. “Victims of discrimination are often not found in anyone to whom they can express concerns other than those with a conflict of interest or, in some cases, even those who accuse them.” Nearly a third of the base cricket is played by South Asians in the UK, but they make up only 3-4% of professionals, a number that prompted the ECB to launch the 2018 South Asia Action Plan. Thomas Fletcher, a reader at Leeds Beckett University who has written research on racism and the Asian experience in English cricket, says this can be partly explained by a lack of cultural awareness in the game. “There is a hierarchy of cultural acceptance in cricket,” he said. “If you are Asian but you will participate, you will accept the occasional racism, you will match, then you are accepted. On the other hand, if you fast, do not drink and question racism, you are described as a troublemaker, you are excluded. “He is coming to the leadership. The senior coaching staff should go to the locker room and tell the players that they should welcome and hug people from different backgrounds, take the time to learn about their culture. “Resistance to change comes from some of the leading figures in clubs at all levels, who are conservative older white men mingling in homogeneous circles. “Their worldview is not in question, so sometimes change has to be imposed.”
