Man charged with racially abusing Majid Haq

Aug 14, 2023 at 6:34 PM
Man charged with racially abusing Majid Haq
A person has been arrested and charged in reference to racial abuse after Majid Haq, the previous Scotland spinner, described being referred to as a “cheating P***” whereas umpiring in a membership match in Greenock.

“I appreciate the word is already out about the incident at Greenock on 12 August,” Haq mentioned in a press release. “There is already far too much misinformation out on social media, particularly regarding racism issues in cricket, and therefore I felt it important to put this out.

“After making a call as standing umpire, I used to be referred to as a f*** dishonest p***. When I challenged the individual, they endured it was a factual time period and continued to confront me. It was extremely upsetting, not only for me but in addition for the quite a few gamers of Pakistani descent in earshot.

“The individual has been charged by Police Scotland, and I therefore intend to say no more about the incident itself.”

Haq mentioned that he had tried to rebuild his relationship with the sport by going into umpiring however added that “12 months on from the [Changing the Boundaries] report, I have been subject to scrutiny and abuse beyond anything that could be considered reasonable”.

“I really, really hope that this latest incident might be the wake up call our sport needs to confront the ugly truth. Our sport has a problem, and it’s systemic. Our sport needs to change, to make it inclusive and safe for others that might come after those who have spoken up.”

Cricket Scotland and sportScotland – the nationwide sports activities physique that positioned CS underneath ‘particular measures’ following the report – have both faced questions about the handling of the racism inquiry, most notably by former CS chairs Tony Brian and Anjan Luthra. There are at present plenty of instances referred from the “Changing the Boundaries” report which are underneath investigation nonetheless.

At the top of July Cricket Scotland introduced that eight referrals had been concluded – along with 4 earlier – with the board taking a number of learnings from them however which required no additional motion. Thirty-two referrals stay underneath investigation with updates anticipated solely as and when they’re concluded.

In response to the most recent incident involving Haq, Cricket Scotland launched a press release saying that it “condemns in the strongest possible terms the behaviour that took place at Greenock on Saturday”.

“Racism has no place in sport or society. It is a scar on cricket, and Cricket Scotland is wholly committed, along with our partners, to eradicating racist behaviour and attitudes from our game.

“As this incident is now a part of a reside legal case, Cricket Scotland is unable to remark additional. However, the governing physique can verify it’s working at the side of the CSMOA [Cricket Scotland Match Officials Association], WDCU [Western District Cricket Union] and Greenock Cricket Club to make sure inside disciplinary proceedings proceed swiftly and appropriately, following due course of.”