I Am Potentially Unemployable, People Are Scared To Be Connected To Me - Azeem Rafiq On His Fight Against Racism

Former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq revealed his fear of becoming unemployable with the game of cricket after he led the fight against racism in England cricket.

Last year, the Karachi-born cricketer, who played 39 First-Class matches, 35 List A games and 95 T20 games for Yorkshire County Club, alleged being a victim of racism at the club for a long time in his two stints with the club in the period of 2008-14 and again in 2016-18.

Azeem Rafiq felt inhuman treatment at Yorkshire

In his hearings to the British Parliamentary, Rafiq revealed that he faced inhuman treatment at the club and was felt to be isolated and humiliated at times in his testimony in November 2021.

Many prominent cricket personalities like Michael Vaughan and Gary Ballance came under the scanner in the racism row. Yorkshire chairman Roger Hutton resigned after the club faced public backlash and Ballance was handed suspension from selection for the national team until his investigation was carried out by the ECB.

In the wake of the incident, Yorkshire CCC was also suspended from staging England matches at the Headingley in Leeds only for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to lift the suspension on February 11.

I feel like people are scared to be connected to me, because I will continue to fight for the truth: Azeem Rafiq

Rafiq said that he is without any hope to make his return back to the game in any kind of roles like coaching or media-related work after he raised his voice against racism. Rafiq feels that people aren’t accepting the reality and are refraining to connect with them.

“I feel like people are scared to be connected to me, because I will continue to fight for the truth.

“I sit here as a 31-year-old, potentially unemployable, potentially (without) any hope of being around the game in the future, a game that I’ve loved for the majority of my life,” he told news agency PA at the Include Summit in Birmingham.

“Something that I thought, after letting off the burden that I’ve been carrying for a long time, that I’d be able to love again and start going back towards and follow my passion within it.

“My passion away from playing is coaching…So that was one thing that I always wanted to do and the other thing was within a media, broadcasting. 

“I just don’t know how I can come back when the game is still not accepting the reality. Of course, I’d love to (come back). It wants to put this across as Azeem Rafiq’s experience. It’s not, it’s the experience of thousands of others,” the 31-year-old added.

England national players like Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid have backed Rafiq in his fight against racism. Moeen said Rafiq was speaking on behalf of all those players who didn’t have the courage to open up on the issue.

Also Read: Won’t Be Surprised If More Stories Do Come Out: Moeen Ali On Azeem Rafiq’s Racism Allegations In England Cricket