Yorkshire should be fined a record £500,000 and have points deducted over their handling of racism allegations made by former player Azeem Rafiq, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) told a hearing on Tuesday.
The recommendations were made to an independent Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) panel, British media reported, after Yorkshire admitted to four amended charges of bringing the game into disrepute earlier this year.
Rafiq, a former England U-19 captain of Pakistani descent, told a British parliamentary committee in 2021 of “inhuman” treatment at Yorkshire and said he had been a victim of institutional racism at the club.
Recommended sporting sanctions included a deduction of between 48 to 72 points in the County Championship and four to six points each in the One-Day Cup and T20 Blast.
Yorkshire’s lawyer said the club had “already suffered detriment” and asked the panel to take that into account in its verdict, which will be announced in July.
Six former Yorkshire players were sanctioned by the CDC in May after they were found to have used racist slurs. Ex-England captain Michael Vaughan was cleared of using racist language “on the balance of probabilities”.
During submissions, the ECB’s barrister, Jane Mulcahy KC said the proposal takes into account Yorkshire’s finances.
“It would be ‘wholly unproductive’ to put Yorkshire County Cricket Club out of business and rather strike a balance,” she said.
“This is a very serious matter, and we feel this is an appropriate and proportional proposal.”
