Essex fined £100,000 after admitting racism charges

WARNING: This article contains descriptions of racism and other offensive and discriminatory language and behaviour.

Essex have been fined £100,000 after admitting charges relating to the "systemic" use of racist language or conduct at the club between 2001 and 2010.

The club were charged by the Cricket Regulator in June, having been alleged to have brought the game into "disrepute".

It came after a number of former players made allegations in 2021, prompting a report to be ordered by Essex which found "a number of former players were victims of "racist abuse and discriminatory treatment".

Essex admitted the charge on 10 June.

They have now been fined £100,000, £50,000 of which is suspended for two years, and warned about their future conduct by the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC).

In its reasons for the sanctions the CDC panel said the "systemic use of racist and discriminatory language suggests a culture that was embedded across the club".

It added: "Such language or conduct was used regularly, openly and seemingly without fear of criticism.

"No one at any level within the club sought to challenge or stop its use.

"It is plain that the problem was a systemic one, and is indicative of serious management failures towards the care of a number of ECCC's ethnic minority players."

Essex are the second county cricket club in England to be punished following racism allegations in the past two years.

Yorkshire were docked 48 points in the County Championship, four in the T20 Blast and fined £400,000 - £300,000 of which was suspended - for their handling of the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal.

Because Essex's charges were, unlike Yorkshire's, all related to allegations prior to 2020 the panel did not have the power to impose points deductions.

In response to the sanctions Essex chair Anu Mohindru said "there is deep regret for what occurred in the past, but these events do not reflect the Essex of today".

"We remain fully committed to working towards positive and lasting change," added Mohindru, who became chair in October 2023.

"This is a responsibility we take seriously, and we will continue to engage with all those affected, our community and stakeholders to ensure that the progress already made in recent years is upheld and further strengthened."

Interim director of the Cricket Regulator Dave Lewis described the racism experienced at Essex as "abhorrent" and said the evidence was "deeply disturbing".

"I hope that this prosecution will help ensure that no one suffers again as they did, and that racism of this kind is never normalised," he said.

"The CDC panel took into account the fact that Essex had pleaded guilty to the charge and has already taken significant action to address these issues and become a more inclusive club."

England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould welcomed "the action Essex has taken in recent years to address these issues".

Gould said the ECB will "shortly update" on the progress made in the action plan set out following the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report last year, which found discrimination was "widespread" in cricket in England and Wales.

Essex began an investigation in 2021 following several allegations, including complaints by former players Jahid Ahmed, Maurice Chambers and Zoheb Sharif.

They spoke out following the racism scandal at Yorkshire.

Essex commissioned their own inquiry into the issues, culminating in a report by Katharine Newton KC, published in December, which concluded that a number of the club's former players were victims of racist abuse and discriminatory treatment.

Afterwards a committee was set up at Essex to consider possible sanctions against individuals as a result of the report.

Among other things the report found a player was referred to as "bomber" by some team-mates following the 9/11 attacks on the United States and another player was offered bananas by a team-mate in a "manner that was unequivocally racist".

The investigation also found a former chairman used racist language during a 2017 board meeting.

Essex were fined £50,000 by the ECB in 2022 after admitting two charges relating to that meeting - but although John Faragher, who is also not named in the report, resigned as chairman the previous year, he denied using racist language.

In June chief executive John Stephenson said Essex will never publicly name former players and staff members allegedly involved in racist behaviour.