Yorkshire racism controversy: Bresnan apologises to Azeem Rafiq but denies making racist slurs

Rafiq
on
Tuesday
(November
16)
narrated
his
experiences
of
racism
and
discrimination
at
the
club
in
detail
as
he
addressed
UK
Members
of
Parliament
in
the
Digital,
Culture,
Media
and
Sport
Committee
(DCMS).

In
his
witness
statement,
the
30-year-old
said
Bresnan
“frequently
made
racist
comments”
and
also
claimed
that
he
was
one
of
“six
or
seven”
other
players
who
had
made
bullying
complaint
against
the
pacer
due
to
his
alleged
behaviour.

“For
any
part
I
played
in
contributing
to
Azeem
Rafiq’s
experience
of
feeling
bullied
at
Yorkshire,
I
apologise
unreservedly,”
Bresnan
said
in
a
statement
posted
on
his
twitter
handle.

“Following
the
publication
of
Azeem’s
witness
statement
from
the
employment
tribunal,
which
I
saw
for
the
first
time
this
afternoon,
I
must
though
categorically
deny
his
accusation
that
I
‘frequently
made
racist
comments’.”

Commentator
David
‘Bumble’ Lloyd
also
took
to
twitter
to
apologise
to
Rafiq
after
he
was
accused
of
making
disparaging
comments
on
Asian
cricketers
to
a
third
party.

“In
October
2020,
I
had
a
private
message
exchange
with
a
third
party
involved
in
cricket,
about
a
number
of
topics,” Lloyd
wrote
on
his
handle
on
Tuesday.

“In
these
messages,
I
referred
to
allegations
about
Azeem
Rafiq
which
I
had
heard
from
within
the
game.
I
also
made
some
comments
about
the
Asian
cricket
community.

“I
deeply
regret
my
actions,
and
I
apologise
most
sincerely
to
Azeem
and
to
the
Asian
cricket
community
for
doing
this,
and
for
any
offence
caused.”

Llyod
said
he
is
“strongly
committed
to
making
cricket
a
more
inclusive
sport.”

“It
is
very
obvious
now
that
more
work
needs
to
be
done
and
I
will
do
everything
I
can
to
remove
discrimination
from
the
sport
I
love,
and
the
sport
that
has
been
my
life
for
over
50
years.”

Rafiq
called
Lloyd
a
“closet
racist”,
saying
it
was
“disturbing”
as
his
employers
Sky
were
doing
“amazing
work
on
bringing
racism
to
the
front”.

Sky,
on
their
part,
have
decided
to
probe
the
comments
made
by
Llyod.