Cricket Scotland board resigns with immediate effect ahead of racism report
The independent review, which will be published on Monday, is expected to find the sport to be "institutionally racist"
Last updated 24th Jul 2022
The board of Cricket Scotland has resigned with immediate effect following allegations of racism.
The directors sent the letter of resignation to the interim chief executive officer this morning.
The report, which will be published on Monday, is expected to support allegations of racism and discrimination across Scottish cricket, finding it to be "institutionally racist".
It was conducted after Scotland’s all-time wicket-taker Majid Haq and team-mate Qasim Sheikh reported allegations of racism in November last year, with several referrals made to a number of organisations including Police Scotland.
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Board resigns with immediate effect
Ahead of the report, a statement issued on Sunday morning announced that the board had resigned and a complete review will look to change the “governance, leadership and support” structures within the game.
The statement read: “The Board of Cricket Scotland has resigned with immediate effect. The Directors sent the letter of resignation to the Interim Chief Executive Officer this morning.
"Cricket Scotland will work in partnership with sportscotland with immediate effect to ensure appropriate governance, leadership and support is in place for the organisation and the sport in the days ahead.
"These arrangements will be reviewed after the publication of the report into racism in cricket in Scotland and updates given accordingly."
According to Cricket Scotland's website, the board has 14 members.
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'Time for real change'
Aamer Anwar, the lawyer representing the two players, tweeted: "In advance of publication on Mon, we’d asked for the board to resign after being accused of being dysfunctional, institutionally racist and presiding over a culture of humiliation and bullying.
"This morning the board of Cricket Scotland have resigned, my clients Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh were subjected to systemic racism, bullying and humiliation, their careers stripped from them and their dreams shattered.
"Today they are vindicated - time for real change."
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'We are all truly sorry'
A letter from the board to interim chief executive Gordon Arthur read: “We are writing to formally submit our resignations from the board of Cricket Scotland.
"When the review into racism in Scottish cricket was announced last year we were fully supportive of the review. The review has achieved an unparalleled level of engagement and we believe it will be truly transformative, not just for Cricket Scotland and the sport of cricket, but it will provide a watershed moment for Scottish sport and society in general.
“The board have been totally committed to implementing the findings of this review in full to make the sport of cricket in Scotland a truly welcoming and inclusive place for all. We are all truly sorry and have apologised publicly to everyone who has experienced racism, or any other form of discrimination, in cricket in Scotland.
"The board has also made important initial steps to improve the governance and leadership of Cricket Scotland since the start of the year."
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'We must now step aside'
It continued: “This is, without doubt, the start of another long journey to overhaul and modernise the governance of the sport to ensure its continued success in the years ahead.
"These two programmes of work, one to deliver a thorough, fair and speedy resolution to the issues raised about racism, and the other to overhaul and modernise the governance of the sport are individually huge challenges for a small organisation like Cricket Scotland.
“We acknowledge the significant support received from sportscotland to date, and we know that they will continue to work in partnership to ensure speedy progress going forward.
“However, while the board has not been given sight of the review report, it is now aware of the proposed timescales and of certain mandated actions proposed within the report that it believes make the delivery of these two programmes unachievable within the timetable proposed and the current governance framework.
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“Consequently, we believe we must now step aside to enable the required progress to be made in the coming months.
“We wish everyone in Cricket Scotland every success and hope that the sport of cricket will emerge from this review implementation period into a new, transformed and truly welcoming environment that will enable it to flourish at every level in the years ahead.”
A spokesperson for sportscotland said: “This has been an exceptionally challenging time for everyone involved in Scottish cricket. We have been made aware of the board’s decision and as the national agency for sport, we will take immediate steps to provide significant additional governance and leadership support to Cricket Scotland.”