Latest news with #AzeemRafiq
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
22-05-2025
- Sport
- First Post
Former cricketer Azeem Rafiq accuses England newspaper of 'downplaying racism,' blaming him for Gary Ballance's troubles
English-Zimbabwean ex-cricketer Gary Ballance was among the players accused of racially targeting Azeem Rafiq and other players of Asian origin at Yorkshire. A recent article on British daily The Telegraph, however, claimed Ballance 'lost more than any of the accused in that whole saga', which did not go down too well with Rafiq. read more Azeem Rafiq had accused former England and Zimbabwe batter Gary Ballance among several other players of racist behavior at leading county club Yorkshire. Image credit: X Azeem Rafiq has accused a leading British newspaper of attempting to 'downplay racism' by defending Gary Ballance and suggesting that the English-Zimbabwean former cricketer had been 'cancelled' in the racism scandal that had rocked English cricket recently. Pakistan-born English cricketer Azeem Rafiq had in September 2020 publicly aired his grievances regarding racism and bullying in Yorkshire, the leading County club that he had played for in a professional career spanning two decades. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Ballance, who had played a handful of matches for his native country Zimbabwe after representing England in 23 Tests between 2014 and 2017, was among the players accused of racist behavior at Yorkshire with the southpaw later admitting to the offence at a hearing. The 35-year-old, who had retired from all forms of the game in 2023, is currently serving as assistant coach to the Zimbabwe team that is facing England in a one-off Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham that got underway on Thursday. Rafiq slams 'pathetic attempt' to portray Ballance as 'cancelled' And two days before the Test got underway, The Telegraph's Nick Hoult wrote an article on the former middle-order batter headlined " English cricket cancelled Gary Ballance, this is what happened next". 'Implicated heavily in the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal, Ballance arguably lost more than any of the accused in that whole saga. 'Having departed England to rebuild his shattered life he returns to Trent Bridge as Zimbabwe's assistant coach,' read the caption of the post on The Telegraph's X account that carried a link to the piece. Rafiq, who had the entire nation's attention fixed on him at the height of the racism row with the matter even reaching the parliament, hit back at the newspaper for what he felt was an attempt to portray Ballance as the victim in the saga. 'Another pathetic attempt by Nick Hoult & Telegraph to downplay racism,' the Karachi-born former cricketer wrote on X quoting the original post by The Telegraph. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Ballance who admitted & apologised yet Nick seems to suggest he was 'cancelled' 'It's all a continued attempt justify the language used 'Embarrassing - keep trying Nick truth won't change,' Rafiq added.
Telegraph
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
English cricket cancelled Gary Ballance but Zimbabwe has embraced him
Gary Ballance will be a familiar face on the balcony at Trent Bridge this week, returning as Zimbabwe's assistant coach to the scene of his last Test for England in 2017. It is almost four years since Ballance last played for Yorkshire in September 2021. He was then released from his contract two years early in December 2023 at his own request in order to find a 'fresh start'. Implicated heavily in the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal, Ballance arguably lost more than any of the accused in that whole saga. He admitted to using racist language as part of what he said were friendly exchanges between the pair and apologised to Rafiq in person. Ballance was eventually given a six-match ban and £3,000 fine by the Cricket Disciplinary Commission. By then he had already given up a lucrative county career at Yorkshire, and decided he had no future in England. In effect, English cricket had cancelled him. He was left broken, mentally exhausted by it all and felt he had to return to his home country to rebuild a shattered life. Century on Zimbabwe Test debut for Gary Ballance 💪 Watch #ZIMvWI live and FREE on (in select regions) 📺 📝 Scorecard: | 📸: @ZimCricketv — ICC (@ICC) February 7, 2023 In Zimbabwe, he was soon persuaded to return to playing and proved he was still good enough. In his only Test match for the country, in February 2023, he scored 137 not out in Bulawayo against a West Indies attack featuring Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph and Jason Holder. It made him only the second cricketer after Kepler Wessels to score a Test hundred for two different countries. But it did not last. Two months later he retired. 'I have reached the stage where I no longer have the desire to dedicate myself to the rigours of professional sport and this would do Zimbabwe cricket and the game itself a disservice, should I carry on,' he said. Ballance has not spoken publicly about the toll the Yorkshire affair had on him but others have been open. Michael Vaughan told Telegraph Sport last year how he is managing a stress-induced inflammatory illness caused by the scandal. Matthew Hoggard revealed recently his fears his wife would take her life as the racism scandal engulfed him. John Blain admitted he had suicidal thoughts as well. Rafiq, too, moved away after receiving death threats following his appearance at a DCMS government hearing in which he accused cricket of being institutionally racist and said Ballance's racial language had left him feeling 'isolated and humiliated'. Ballance's England career was already over by then. For a while he was a solid, consistent run-scorer at No 3. He finished his career with a Test career average just above 40 from 24 matches. He was the third-fastest England batsman to 1,000 Test runs, taking 17 innings, and scored four hundreds before his deep-in-the-crease technique was exposed by the pace of Australia and South Africa. Considering his experience of English conditions, you could make a strong argument that of all the Zimbabweans at Trent Bridge this week, he would be the most likely to score a hundred in their first Test match in England for two decades. At 35, he could easily still be playing for Yorkshire, churning out a thousand championship runs a season and earning a good living as a consistent, reliable batsman available all summer. He is younger than Adam Lyth, still opening for Yorkshire, the same age as Jonny Bairstow and just 11 months older than Joe Root. Instead he is rebuilding his life as a coach, and given his experiences over the past few years he will be able to offer young players valuable life lessons, aside from the technicalities of batting. He is said to relish coaching and few in English cricket will begrudge him a second chance, that 'fresh start' he had to leave this country to find. Ballance will find friendly faces in the England dressing room. He was a housemate of Root's for a while and close to Ben Stokes. Harry Brook was a Yorkshire team-mate. The rest of his England generation have moved on. He could not have been granted a more low-key return to cricket than a cold Thursday morning last week at Grace Road, where about 50 spectators huddled against the wind and the PA announcer warned there was no hot food on sale. A four-day leg-stretcher against a Professional County Club Select XI in Leicester proved a tricky start for Zimbabwe. They lost by 138 runs despite taking a first-innings lead. The county team, coached by Andrew Flintoff and Mark Wood, declared at 464 for seven in their second innings with Thomas Rew, the 17-year-old younger brother of James who is in the England squad this week, scoring 103.
The Star
18-05-2025
- The Star
Online hate, culture of abuse is becoming normalised, study warns
LONDON: Sportspeople and pundits believe online hate is becoming normalised and say it is significantly impacting how they do their jobs, live their lives and express themselves, according to a new report. Contributors to a new report by UK watchdog Ofcom say online abuse has had profound offline consequences on them – prompting one individual to barricade themselves indoors, while others reported suffering from disordered eating and feelings of helplessness. Others said they self-censored online or while broadcasting for fear of being targeted, while some shied away from moving into on-screen roles at all because they feared doing so would increase their risk of being targeted. Researchers for Ofcom spoke to seven individuals and conducted nine discussion groups with support from anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out. Participants included sportspeople, on-screen commentators, and professionals working in sport and broadcasting. The respondents felt online abuse was becoming more common, sophisticated and normalised. They also highlighted how they felt the problem was rapidly evolving, with abusers able to evade filters with different phrases, terms and emojis. One contributor to the report said: 'I didn't leave my house for a week because of the impact of online abuse, the sort of wave (of intensity) and the amount of people that are abusing you. 'And then the media writes about it and then it becomes this sort of overwhelming feeling of just dread that so many people are saying such horrible things about you, without you actually having done anything.' Respondents felt abusers were becoming bolder because of a perceived lack of consequences for accounts that post it, and were being incentivised to post hateful and abusive content by the business models of online services that monetise engagement. Among the named contributors to the report were former cricketer Azeem Rafiq, former footballer Eni Aluko and former rugby union referee Wayne Barnes. Rafiq said nothing could have prepared him for the volume of abuse he received when he spoke out about the racism he suffered while playing at Yorkshire. Rafiq, who moved from the UK to Dubai because of the abuse, said in the report: 'The impact of this experience on me as a human being and on my mental health has damaged my life to such an extent, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to quantify it.' Ofcom said the report was part of a broader programme of work to better understand the lived experience of groups and individuals who have been particularly impacted by online harm. In March, duties came into force under the Online Safety Act that mean platforms must assess the risk of UK users encountering illegal material and use appropriate measures to protect them from it. Ofcom is currently assessing platforms' compliance with these new duties, and will take action if they fail to comply with them. Some platforms will also be subject to additional duties under the Act, such as providing adult users with features that enable them to reduce the likelihood of encountering certain types of legal but harmful content. Participants in this report said they wanted platforms to enforce their terms of service and reduce online hate and abuse for all users, not just for those who choose to use specific tools. They said existing tools, such as blocking or muting, do not go far enough to help protect them and their families and friends against online hate and abuse. Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari said: 'The impact of online abuse is undeniable, and the rise in discriminatory social media reports to Kick It Out last season shows it's getting worse. 'Time and again, players and others across the game tell us about the mental toll this abuse takes, and we welcome this new report, which highlights just how deep that impact runs. 'This isn't about a few hateful comments. It's about a culture of abuse that has become normalised. It's about a social media ecosystem that too often enables and amplifies abuse. 'And it's about victims who feel imprisoned by that culture of abuse.' Jessica Zucker, Ofcom's online safety director, said: 'The UK's new online safety laws mean tech firms now have to start protecting people on their sites and apps from illegal forms of abuse. And when all the rules are fully in force, some of the largest social media platforms will have to give users more control over what they see online. 'People with lived experience of harm online are at the heart of the rules we make and the action we take. We'll be pushing companies hard to make their services safer by design, and holding them to account if they don't.' – PA Media/dpa
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Online hate, culture of abuse is becoming normalized, study warns
Sportspeople and pundits believe online hate is becoming normalised and say it is significantly impacting how they do their jobs, live their lives and express themselves, according to a new report. Contributors to a new report by UK watchdog Ofcom say online abuse has had profound offline consequences on them – prompting one individual to barricade themselves indoors, while others reported suffering from disordered eating and feelings of helplessness. Others said they self-censored online or while broadcasting for fear of being targeted, while some shied away from moving into on-screen roles at all because they feared doing so would increase their risk of being targeted. Researchers for Ofcom spoke to seven individuals and conducted nine discussion groups with support from anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out. Participants included sportspeople, on-screen commentators, and professionals working in sport and broadcasting. The respondents felt online abuse was becoming more common, sophisticated and normalised. They also highlighted how they felt the problem was rapidly evolving, with abusers able to evade filters with different phrases, terms and emojis. One contributor to the report said: 'I didn't leave my house for a week because of the impact of online abuse, the sort of wave (of intensity) and the amount of people that are abusing you. 'And then the media writes about it and then it becomes this sort of overwhelming feeling of just dread that so many people are saying such horrible things about you, without you actually having done anything.' Respondents felt abusers were becoming bolder because of a perceived lack of consequences for accounts that post it, and were being incentivised to post hateful and abusive content by the business models of online services that monetise engagement. Among the named contributors to the report were former cricketer Azeem Rafiq, former footballer Eni Aluko and former rugby union referee Wayne Barnes. Rafiq said nothing could have prepared him for the volume of abuse he received when he spoke out about the racism he suffered while playing at Yorkshire. Rafiq, who moved from the UK to Dubai because of the abuse, said in the report: 'The impact of this experience on me as a human being and on my mental health has damaged my life to such an extent, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to quantify it.' Ofcom said the report was part of a broader programme of work to better understand the lived experience of groups and individuals who have been particularly impacted by online harm. In March, duties came into force under the Online Safety Act that mean platforms must assess the risk of UK users encountering illegal material and use appropriate measures to protect them from it. Ofcom is currently assessing platforms' compliance with these new duties, and will take action if they fail to comply with them. Some platforms will also be subject to additional duties under the Act, such as providing adult users with features that enable them to reduce the likelihood of encountering certain types of legal but harmful content. Participants in this report said they wanted platforms to enforce their terms of service and reduce online hate and abuse for all users, not just for those who choose to use specific tools. They said existing tools, such as blocking or muting, do not go far enough to help protect them and their families and friends against online hate and abuse. Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari said: 'The impact of online abuse is undeniable, and the rise in discriminatory social media reports to Kick It Out last season shows it's getting worse. 'Time and again, players and others across the game tell us about the mental toll this abuse takes, and we welcome this new report, which highlights just how deep that impact runs. 'This isn't about a few hateful comments. It's about a culture of abuse that has become normalised. It's about a social media ecosystem that too often enables and amplifies abuse. 'And it's about victims who feel imprisoned by that culture of abuse.' Jessica Zucker, Ofcom's online safety director, said: 'The UK's new online safety laws mean tech firms now have to start protecting people on their sites and apps from illegal forms of abuse. And when all the rules are fully in force, some of the largest social media platforms will have to give users more control over what they see online. 'People with lived experience of harm online are at the heart of the rules we make and the action we take. We'll be pushing companies hard to make their services safer by design, and holding them to account if they don't.'
Powys County Times
16-05-2025
- Powys County Times
Azeem Rafiq among sportspeople highlighting impact of online abuse in new report
Sportspeople and pundits believe online hate is becoming normalised and say it is significantly impacting how they do their jobs, live their lives and express themselves, according to a new report. Contributors to a new Ofcom report say online abuse has had profound offline consequences on them – prompting one individual to barricade themselves indoors, while others reported suffering from disordered eating and feelings of helplessness. Others said they self-censored online or while broadcasting for fear of being targeted, while some shied away from moving into on-screen roles at all because they feared doing so would increase their risk of being targeted. Researchers for Ofcom spoke to seven individuals and conducted nine discussion groups with support from anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out. Participants included sportspeople, on-screen commentators, and professionals working in sport and broadcasting. The respondents felt online abuse was becoming more common, sophisticated and normalised. They also highlighted how they felt the problem was rapidly evolving, with abusers able to evade filters with different phrases, terms and emojis. One contributor to the report said: 'I didn't leave my house for a week because of the impact of online abuse, the sort of wave (of intensity) and the amount of people that are abusing you. 'And then the media writes about it and then it becomes this sort of overwhelming feeling of just dread that so many people are saying such horrible things about you, without you actually having done anything.' Respondents felt abusers were becoming bolder because of a perceived lack of consequences for accounts that post it, and were being incentivised to post hateful and abusive content by the business models of online services that monetise engagement. Among the named contributors to the report were former cricketer Azeem Rafiq, former footballer Eni Aluko and former rugby union referee Wayne Barnes. Rafiq said nothing could have prepared him for the volume of abuse he received when he spoke out about the racism he suffered while playing at Yorkshire. Rafiq, who moved from the UK to Dubai because of the abuse, said in the report: 'The impact of this experience on me as a human being and on my mental health has damaged my life to such an extent, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to quantify it.' Ofcom said the report was part of a broader programme of work to better understand the lived experience of groups and individuals who have been particularly impacted by online harm. In March, duties came into force under the Online Safety Act that mean platforms must assess the risk of UK users encountering illegal material and use appropriate measures to protect them from it. Ofcom is currently assessing platforms' compliance with these new duties, and will take action if they fail to comply with them. Some platforms will also be subject to additional duties under the Act, such as providing adult users with features that enable them to reduce the likelihood of encountering certain types of legal but harmful content. Participants in this report said they wanted platforms to enforce their terms of service and reduce online hate and abuse for all users, not just for those who choose to use specific tools. They said existing tools, such as blocking or muting, do not go far enough to help protect them and their families and friends against online hate and abuse. Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari said: 'The impact of online abuse is undeniable, and the rise in discriminatory social media reports to Kick It Out last season shows it's getting worse. 'Time and again, players and others across the game tell us about the mental toll this abuse takes, and we welcome this new report, which highlights just how deep that impact runs. 'This isn't about a few hateful comments. It's about a culture of abuse that has become normalised. It's about a social media ecosystem that too often enables and amplifies abuse. 'And it's about victims who feel imprisoned by that culture of abuse.' Jessica Zucker, Ofcom's online safety director, said: 'The UK's new online safety laws mean tech firms now have to start protecting people on their sites and apps from illegal forms of abuse. And when all the rules are fully in force, some of the largest social media platforms will have to give users more control over what they see online. 'People with lived experience of harm online are at the heart of the rules we make and the action we take. We'll be pushing companies hard to make their services safer by design, and holding them to account if they don't.'
