Azeem Akhtar appointed chair of Essex Cricket after racism scandal
John Faragher was forced to quit after he allegedly used racist language in a meeting
Essex have announced the appointment of Azeem Akhtar as the club's new chair.
Akhtar, already a board member at the club, succeeds chief executive John Stephenson, who had served as interim chair since the resignation of John Faragher in November 2021.
Faragher resigned, said a club statement released at the time, "following a historic allegation of racist language used by him at a board meeting in 2017''.
Faragher denied the accusation, but in May the club were fined £50,000 and reprimanded by an independent Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) Panel after accepting two charges relating to the incident.
The panel concluded that a points deduction would be inappropriate in the circumstances and instead settled for the financial penalty, of which £15,000 was suspended.
The club's failure to address the situation once it was brought to the attention of the full board in January 2018 was presented as a major error in governance.
Akhtar's appointment as Faragher's permanent successor was ratified by the board on Thursday.
"I am extremely proud to be elected as the chair of Essex County Cricket Club," said Akhtar. "From someone who is born and raised in Essex and a lifelong supporter of the club, I understand the importance of this great club to members, supporters, commercial partners and the wider community.
"I'm looking forward to working with the newly formed board and taking positive steps for the future of the club.
"Our ultimate aim is to make Essex the premier red and white ball cricketing county in England, whilst continuing to enhance and grow the game through our fantastic work in the community."
Akhtar was named in the UK's Top 100 Most Influential BAME Business Leaders in 2016 and is currently lead customer chief technology officer at BT Global.
His background in sport governance also includes six years as chair for Active Essex and three years on the board at Sport England, and Stephenson signalled his appointment as a new era for Essex.
He said: "Azeem was the standout candidate from a very strong field of potential candidates for the position of chair.
"Aside from his strong all-round skills set, since childhood he has been a regular visitor to The Cloud County Ground being a lifelong Essex fan. He will bring vast experience and his passion for Essex cricket and I'm looking forward to working with him and the newly formed board."