Cricket Scotland found to be 'institutionally racist': Report

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) - An independent report has found that Cricket Scotland, the sport's governing body in the country, is institutionally racist.

The report found 448 indicators of institutional racism. As part of the review, 68 cases have been referred for further investigation, including some being referred as hate crimes to Police Scotland.

Examples of institutional racism included racial abuse and inappropriate language, favoring white children from private schools, and lack of transparency in the selection process..

The report said that those they spoke to "clearly witnessed or experienced racism, discrimination and persistent micro-aggressions based on race during their role as a coach, umpire or player." It also said there was a lack of diversity among coaches.

The independent, six-month review was carried out by Plan4Sport, a company that supports sports organizations with equality, diversity and inclusion. SportScotland, the national agency for sport in the country, commissioned the report.

Plan4Sport's managing director Louise Tideswell said: "Our view is clear: the governance and leadership practices of Cricket Scotland have been institutionally racist. We have seen the bravery of so many people coming forward to share their stories which had clearly impacted on their lives.

"People who have loved cricket and, despite the many knockbacks, continued to try and make progress, umpires who committed so many hours even though promotion never came, and players who saw or heard racism and hostility but kept coming back to play. The reality is that the leadership of the organisation failed to see the problems and, in failing to do so, enabled a culture of racially aggravated micro-aggressions to develop."

The report was triggered by complaints of racism by Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh, two Scottish cricket internal players.

The furor follows a scandal at Yorkshire Cricket Club in England, which was triggered by complaints of racism by former player Azeem Rafiq.

The report into Cricket Scotland also found there was not an adequate system for handling complaints of racism.

Cricket Scotland has been placed in special measures until October 2023.

Its entire board resigned on Sunday ahead of the report's publication. The report recommended that the new board should be at least 40% women and 25% those of ethnic minority backgrounds.

SportScotland's chief executive Stewart Harris said: “The findings in this report are deeply concerning and in some cases shocking. Sport should be a welcoming place for all and it is unacceptable that anyone has suffered racist abuse and discrimination while playing the game they love."

"We will keep all options on the table as we hold Cricket Scotland to account on all of the recommendations contained within this report," he said.

"Today should also act as a wake-up call for all of Scottish sport," he added.

"Racism is a societal problem and it is no longer good enough to simply be non-racist. Scottish sport must now be actively anti-racist," he concluded.