Essex chairman resigns over historical allegation of racist language

Faragher strongly denies the allegation

Essex chairman John Faragher has resigned from his position following an allegation that he used racist language in a 2017 board meeting. Although Faragher strongly denies the allegation, Essex have stated they will investigate why the matter was not fully and independently investigated at the time when it supposedly occurred.  Faragher stood down from his post following a board meeting on Thursday.

"There is no place for discrimination of any kind at the club," chief executive John Stephenson said.

Former Essex opener Stephenson - who took charge of the day-to-day running of the county club in October - claims that he first found out about the alleged incident earlier this week.

"I was made aware of this single allegation on Thursday," he added.

"The Board met last night [Thursday] during which John Faragher's resignation was unanimously accepted.

"This is a proud club with a zero-tolerance policy towards racism and any form of discrimination. I will not hesitate to uphold those principles and drive out any form of discrimination that is uncovered."

https://twitter.com/danroan/status/1459163788163547137

Faragher's resignation comes just one day after the chief executive of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Mark Arthur, resigned over the club's response to the Azeem Rafiq case, reported by the BBC.

Rafiq made 43 allegations of racism in relation to his time at the side and an independent investigation upheld seven of his claims which concluded he had been a victim of "racial harassment and bullying".

The fallout of the report has seen the resignation of Roger Hutton as chairman, the club stripped of its right to host England matches at Headlingley, and key sponsors, including Yorkshire Tea, cut ties with the club.

Related links:

• Yorkshire chief executive Mark Arthur resigns over the club’s response to Azeem Rafiq case
• Joe Root breaks silence on Yorkshire racism scandal
• Yorkshire CCC launch investigation after head of HR called supporter ‘a coward’