Cricket Scotland sets up new process to investigate racism complaints

Cricket Scotland has established an independent process for investigating individual complaints which emerged from the recent damning review into racism within the sport and governing body.

Sports law firm Harper MacLeod will work in conjunction with race equality charity Sporting Equals and campaign group Running Out Racism to review and investigate complaints.

Cricket Scotland has revealed the work is already under way and will take “some months”.

A total of 68 individual concerns were referred for further investigation following Plan4Sport’s independent review of allegations of racism within the organisation. These included 31 allegations of racism against 15 people, two clubs and one regional association. Some cases were also referred to Police Scotland and Children First.

The report uncovered widespread institutional racism within Cricket Scotland, whose entire board stepped down on the eve of publication in July.

The allegations included racial abuse, use of inappropriate language, favouritism towards white children from public schools and a lack of a transparent selection process.

Cricket Scotland’s interim chief executive Gordon Arthur said: “Today’s announcement marks an important milestone in the process of understanding the full circumstances of these referrals, speaking to any individuals who have been mentioned in referrals and any witnesses to events that have been reported.

“Only when we have investigated fully, will we be able to decide what action might be taken in individual circumstances, to bring closure on these issues.

“It may be that a number of referrals can be satisfactorily resolved without the need of in-depth investigations and others may take a longer period of time to resolve.

“There are also a significant number to cover, which means not all will be able to commence at the same time. We would therefore ask that the process is respected to enable each investigation to reach conclusion.

“I am aware how difficult a process this has been for everyone involved, but it has been vital to ensure that the next steps are thorough and deliver fair outcomes, so it has been important to take the necessary time to get these steps right.”

Waqqas Ashraf of Running Out Racism welcomed the thought that Cricket Scotland had put into the process.

“Key to building trust in future changes first starts with dealing robustly with past issues,” he added.

“Some of the issues raised throughout the review have been raised in the past, with no or limited process, or leading to consequences for the complainants themselves. It is critical therefore that things are done properly going forward.

“Central to this is ensuring that there are people with experience and understanding of racial inequalities and discrimination supporting any investigation process.

“We will do all we can to support those contributing to the investigations, to help ensure they are treated with compassion and fairness through the process.”