Scotland Cricket found to be 'institutionally racist' after spinner Majid Haq's allegations last year
Former Scotland spinner Majid Haq in action for his country during an ODI in 2013.
Scotland Cricket has been found to be 'institutionally racist' by an independent review. The review was conducted following Scotland cricketer Majid Haq's allegations of racism and discrimination last year. The former spinner had spoken about the unfair treatment and discrimination he had to face in his cricketing career forcing SportScotland to conduct an investigation into the matter.
Haq, who is Scotland's leading wicket-taker of all time, had claimed he suffered abuse during his playing days alleging that as a minority cricketer he had to perform twice as well as a white cricketer to get similar opportunities. Haq's claims were supported by his former teammateQasim Sheikh.
SportScotland had ordered an investigation last year following Haq's revelations about the prevalent racism in Scottish cricket. An organisation namedPlan4Sport was appointed to conduct an independent review ofthe matter and their investigation has found Scotland cricket to be'institutionally racist'.
"The fundamental claim at the start of this was about institutional racism at the heart of cricket. This review concludes that it's very much the case," a source was quoted as saying by Sky News.
As per a report in the BBC, an interim report on the investigation was released by Plan4 Sport in April this year where the organisation revealed it spoke to over 200 people, who agreed to provide evidence on racism in Scotland cricket. Some referrals and allegations were also reported to the Scotland Police for appropriate action.
The final reports and findings of the investigation conducted by Plan4Sport are expected to be made public on Monday (July 25). While Scotland Cricket has refused to make any comments on the alleged findings of the review, the board has offered apologies to those affected by racism in Scotland cricket.
"Cricket should be a welcoming place for everyone and not somewhere that racism or any form of discrimination takes place. The Cricket Scotland Board is truly sorry to everyone who has experienced racism in cricket in Scotland," a spokesperson of Cricket Scotland was quoted as saying by the BBC.
"We would like to sincerely thank everyone who has been involved in contributing to the review, however the board is not in a position to comment on the independent review's report as we will not see it until it is published publicly on Monday," he added.
Majid Haq, ho played for Scotland U-13, U-15 and U-19 sides before making his international debut for the national side in June 2004, made a total of 75 appereances for the Scotland senior team in ODIs and T20Is. He picked up 60 wickets for Scotland in 54 ODI matches and 28 wickets in 21 T20Is. He played his final game for Scotland in March 2015.