As the results of the Cricket Discipline Commission’s (CDC) racism hearings were made public last week, Azeem Rafiq said he is willing to speak with Michael Vaughan in an effort to establish a path ahead for the sport.
Vaughan was exonerated on Friday of using racial slurs at Rafiq and three other Asian-American players before to Yorkshire’s T20 match against Nottinghamshire in 2009. One of seven former members of Yorkshire who were accused of bringing the game into disgrace by using racist or discriminatory words was the former England captain. Charges were proven against Matthew Hoggard, Tim Bresnan, Andrew Gale, John Blain, and Rich Pyrah, while Gary Ballance entered a pre-trial plea of guilty.
When the judgments were made public, Vaughan issued a statement in which he said that the rejection of his case “takes nothing away from Azeem’s own lived experience.” He continued by saying he would be ready “to assist in bringing about constructive change in any manner.”
Vaughan, a contributor for The Telegraph, said he would be open to seeing Rafiq once again on Saturday. Prior to the ECB filing charges, the duo had done so earlier in the year. Rafiq said he was ready to do the same on Monday.
In an interview with the Press Association, Rafiq said, “The one thing I’ve always tried to do is attempt to go in a room and have dialogues because we’re only going to make things better if people start to have conversations with each other and learn each other’s viewpoint.” And from that perspective, I’d be willing to consider it at any time.
Rafiq also made mention of the upcoming report from the Independent Committee for Equality in Cricket.
“I believe the CDC results and the ICEC report provide an opportunity for the game. There is just one option in the game. We’re either going to have another Azeem Rafiq in 20 years or maybe not even that long if it confronts its flaws, genuinely commits to moving ahead, or it will continue to live in the degree of denial that it has maintained for a very long time.
I’m not qualified to be making such choices. Yet, “yes” if there is a desire to meet.
Rafiq further said that since the CDC’s results were made public, he has seen an upsurge in abuse. According to him, the degree of harassment since Friday seemed like it had been occurring for the previous 2.5 years all at once. I’ve received the P-word many times, and I’ve also received the nickname “Rafa the K*****” in a few tweets. These words were often used throughout the proceedings.
“I reported one to Twitter, and this morning I received an email stating that it doesn’t break the rules. The fact that we keep having the same talks is simply incredibly upsetting.
Rafiq intends to reflect after a trying few years after he came forth with his experiences in 2020. He expressed the wish that other whistle-blowers would not be deterred from coming forward in the future by his example.
“It’s been difficult. I’m completely broken from the inside out. I’m not sure whether the degree of trust that has been damaged inside me can ever mend.
“I’m really committed to make sure that what happens to me moving ahead is beneficial because what I do in the following phase will influence whether others come forward or not. In terms of the harassment and the assaults, it’s obvious that a message of “don’t come forward” has been sent to everyone else.
But I want everyone else to know that I’m saying, ‘Speak up for what you believe in. Avoid becoming a spectator. You’ll get a lot more support if you stand up for what you believe in than I did.
