Essex county cricket club chairman quits over claim he made racist remark at board meeting four years ago
- John Faragher has resigned from his role as Essex County Cricket Club chairman
- It comes after a historic allegation he made racist remark at meeting in 2017
- Faragher stepped down on Thursday and he has strongly denied the incident
- The club are reviewing why it was not independently investigated at the time
The chairman of Essex County Cricket Club has resigned following a historic allegation that he used racist language a board meeting four years ago.
Faragher, who strongly denies the incident, stepped down from his role as chair with immediate effect after the Essex board unanimously accepted his resignation on Thursday night.
The first-class county cricket club are intent on reviewing why the incident was not fully and independently investigated at the time.
It comes after Yorkshire’s former chair Roger Hutton and chief executive Mark Arthur both resigned in recent days following former player Azeem Rafiq’s claims of institutional racism at Headingley.
In a statement, Essex said it ‘does not tolerate discrimination of any kind and will immediately consider further steps the Club must take’.
John Faragher (pictured in March 2019) stepped down as Essex County Cricket Club chairman after a historic allegation of racist language used by him at a board meeting in 2017
Addressing the allegations of racism against Faragher, who has been Essex’s chair since 2016, the new chief executive John Stephenson said there is ‘place for discrimination of any kind’ at the club.
He added: ‘This is a proud club with a zero-tolerance policy towards racism and any form of discrimination and, as Essex Cricket’s new chief executive officer, I will not hesitate to uphold those principles and drive out any form of discrimination that is uncovered.’
Mr Stephenson, who only took over the day-to-day running of Essex in October, said he first found out about the alleged incident said to involve Faragher this week.
He said: ‘I was made aware of this single allegation on Thursday having joined the club four weeks ago.
‘The board met last night [Thursday] during which John Faragher’s resignation was unanimously accepted by the board.
‘We are committed to working with the England & Wales Cricket Board to eradicate discrimination from the game.
‘This is an important first step, but the club must now act further. Our internal reporting mechanisms will be reviewed to ensure that matters such as this are dealt with appropriately and immediately.
‘I intend for those next actions to be communicated as soon as possible.’
While Faragher strongly denies the incident, Essex County Cricket Club are intent on reviewing why it was not fully and independently investigated at the time (file photo)
The England and Wales Cricket Board has opened an investigation into the incident after a complaint was initially taken up with the governing body.
An ECB spokesperson said: ‘There is absolutely no place for racism or any form of discrimination in our game.
‘The England and Wales Cricket Board opened an investigation into Essex County Cricket Club after receiving an allegation involving John Faragher, who has subsequently resigned as the club chair. The ECB is taking this allegation extremely seriously.’
It comes after Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s chief executive Mark Arthur resigned from his position following former player Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of institutional racism.
Rafiq was found by an independent report to have been subject to racial harassment and bullying and subsequent allegations have emerged from others setting in motion additional investigations.
Arthur’s departure came after ex-chairman Roger Hutton left his post at Headingley while director of cricket Martyn Moxon has been signed off with a ‘stress-related illness’.
Lord Kamlesh Patel, who replaced Hutton on Friday and has set about instituting a number of initiatives related to the allegations against the club, said of Arthur’s departure: ‘Today the board at Yorkshire County Cricket Club has accepted the resignation of Mark Arthur as CEO. We thank him for his tenure.
‘This is an important moment for the club, which is ready to move forward with new leadership, which will be vital in driving the change we urgently need.
It comes after Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s chief executive Mark Arthur resigned from his position following former player Azeem Rafiq’s (pictutred) allegations of institutional racism
‘We know there is still much work to be done and more difficult decisions to be made. We need to rebuild the trust of the fans, the cricketing world and the public.’
Arthur has been called to give evidence by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee on Tuesday – a session which will be covered by parliamentary privilege that will begin with Rafiq’s testimony.
Earlier this week, England captain Joe Root called for change at the county in response to a crisis that has ‘fractured our game and torn lives apart’.
Root issued a statement from England’s Ashes training camp on the Gold Coast, in which he condemned all racism as ‘intolerable’ and called for direct action at Yorkshire.
The 30-year-old, who made his second XI debut for the club in 2007, wrote: ‘In my capacity as England captain and as a senior player at Yorkshire, I feel compelled to address the current situation that has consumed the sport and YCCC.
‘I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting. There is no debate about racism, no one side or other. It is simply intolerable.
‘These events have fractured our game and torn lives apart. I want to see change and actions that will see YCCC rise from this with a culture that harnesses a diverse environment with trust across all communities that support cricket in the county.
‘I will reach out to YCCC new chair, Lord Patel, to offer support however I’m able. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I think we need to educate more and earlier; we must call it out straight away and have our eyes and ears open more.
‘Inclusivity, diversity and anti-discrimination is something over the past few years the England teams I have been involved in have spent a lot of time talking about and are very passionate about improving and making a big difference.’
Root was also asked on Thursday if he recognised the incidents of racism that have been reported.
Rafiq (pictured) was found by an independent report to have been subject to racial harassment and bullying and subsequent allegations have emerged
‘Not that I can recall, no I can’t,’ he replied. ‘But it is clear things have happened at the club and we have to make sure we eradicate it.
‘We look to find ways to make sure this never happens again in the sport and, as I said before, beyond that as well in society.’
In response to Root’s comments, Rafiq said he was ‘incredibly hurt’ that Root claimed he has no recollection of any racist incidents during his time at Yorkshire.
Rafiq tweeted: ‘Disappointed is not even the feeling. Incredibly Hurt. But uncomfortable truths are hard to accept it seems.’
Meanwhile, coach Andrew Gale was suspended following the emergence of an unrelated anti-Semitic historic tweet.
Gale faces a disciplinary hearing after it was revealed he sent the tweet which included the words ‘button it, yid’ while captain of the crisis-hit club in 2010 during an exchange with the then Leeds United head of media Paul Dews.
The decision to suspend Gale was the first significant move after new chair Lord Kamlesh Patel’s pledge on Monday to ensure Yorkshire should be ‘a club for everyone.’
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