Yorkshire, 'Individuals' Charged Following Investigation On Azeem Rafiq's Racism Claims

Yorkshire County Cricket Club and a number of individuals have been charged following the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) investigation into racism claims made by former player Azeem Rafiq, the country's cricket board said on Wednesday.

However, the ECB has decided not to reveal the names of those charged at this point in time.

An independent panel of the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) will hear the cases in September or October, the ECB said.

"The charges arise from alleged breaches of ECB Directive 3.3 (conduct which is improper or which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the ECB, the game of cricket or any cricketer into disrepute) and the ECB Anti-Discrimination Code. An independent panel of the Cricket Discipline Commission will hear the cases in due course," the ECB said in a statement.

"The ECB's investigation has been thorough and complex, with the allegations covering a significant period of time and a number of witnesses and other individuals coming forward to share their own experiences and allegations. The ECB is grateful to all those who have taken the time to speak with the investigating team," the board said in a release.

The ECB had earlier suspended Yorkshire from hosting international and major matches following the "club's failure in relation to actions and responses" into the racism allegations.

"In matters of this nature, our normal practice is not to identify individuals charged at this stage. This decision is taken on a case-by-case basis. It is however standard practice for the CDC disciplinary panel to publish its decisions and written reasons in full following the hearing. There will be no further comment until the hearing has taken place and the decisions published. We currently expect the hearing to take place in September or October 2022," release said.

"I welcome today's announcement by the ECB and hope we can move to the hearing quickly," Rafiq said on Twitter.

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"This has been another grueling but unfortunately necessary process. It has been a long two years since I went public about my experiences, but I hope this all means that no young player ever goes through such pain and alienation again. My preference would be for this hearing to take place publicly, but I am hopeful that we are at least nearing a point where there will be some sense of closure for my family and me."