Rafiq racism case: Yorkshire punished for 'extremely serious' misconduct

Yorkshire have been fined 400,000 pounds ($514,000) and handed a 48-point deduction in the County Championship by the Cricket Discipline Commission over their handling of racism allegations made by Azeem Rafiq, the commission said on Friday.

Rafiq, a former England Under-19s captain of Pakistani descent, told a British parliamentary committee in 2021 of "inhuman" treatment at Yorkshire and said he had been a victim of institutional racism at the club.

Yorkshire, who have also been handed a four-point deduction in the Twenty20 Blast, have accepted the sanctions, which have been imposed by an independent panel consisting of CDC chair Tim O'Gorman, Seema Patel and Mark Milliken-Smith KC.

Of the fine amount, 300,000 pounds is to be suspended for two years, the CDC said.

"The CDC and ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) have today acknowledged the vast amount of work done by YCCC to overcome the cultural issues that existed within the Club, which allowed racist and discriminatory behaviour to go unchallenged," Yorkshire said in a statement.

"We are accountable for these issues, and we accepted four amended charges as part of a continued commitment to ensure we are able to move forward."

The CDC sanctioned six former Yorkshire players in May after they were found to have used racist slurs.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan was cleared of using racist language "on the balance of probabilities".

The points deduction will leave Yorkshire at the bottom of Division Two of the Country Championship, in eighth place trailing below Derbyshire, Gloucestershire and others.