EXCLUSIVE: Cricket Scotland anti-racism meeting did not even get past discussing terms of reference
A member of Cricket Scotland’s anti-racism working group has slammed the organisation after it claimed “significant progress” had been made in tackling discrimination – despite only one meeting taking place.
Raza Sadiq, who has previously been given a Community Hero Award for his work promoting inclusion and diversity, is one of the four members to resign from the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board.
A number of figures known for promoting equality in sport were invited to be part of the committee last year, but it wasn’t until January that the first – and only – meeting was held.
It comes after Cricket Scotland was put into special measures following being found to be “institutionally racist” by the independent Changing The Boundaries report published in July 2022.
A further review in January found 448 indicators of institutional racism in Cricket Scotland, and of the 31 tests used to measure the problem, the sport’s governing body failed on 29.
Mr Sadiq said the group seemed to be more of a “token” body than one actually interested in changing systems.
He said: “The first meeting we had in January this year – after a long wait – and during it we were provided with a terms of reference and action plan which was really very wishy washy. And that raised concerns.
“We started the meeting and were told ‘you’ve received this document, if you are happy let’s move on’ and we said ‘hold on’ because that’s the first time we’ve seen it and we have many questions. That doesn’t give us much confidence.
“It was a one-hour meeting and we couldn’t move from the first agenda item: agreeing the terms of reference.”
He also accused the group of trying to defeat racism in six months, as the terms of reference stated that the group would meet just six times, rather than indefinitely until solutions had been found.
He said: “That just made me think, ‘are you just simply planning to come out of special measures by October after six meetings and then everything will be great?'”
They were then asked to send written feedback on the terms of reference and goals of the group, which Mr Sadiq said he provided in detail, alongside a number of other members of the group who have now also left.
With the departure of four members, there are no longer any independent ethnic minority members of the advisory group, casting doubt on its ability to identify and understand racism.
The only ethnic minority members left are required to stay on, due to holding separate Cricket Scotland board and sportscotland roles.
“We’ve never heard anything since,” he added. “And then the six-month review been published by the chair of Cricket Scotland claiming a success. Saying the advisory board is really championing the cause, you know.”
Last Friday, after questions were raised over the truth of the claims, Mr Sadiq received an “insulting” email dismissing his complaints as “in isolation”.
“No, they’re not in isolation,” he said. “We very clearly and vocally said during the meeting and we have written comprehensive feedback.
“The purpose of this board was the people with the lived experience, people with anti-racism expertise, and that was a huge resource they could’ve really benefitted from – and they failed on this one.”
Asked what needs to be done for Cricket Scotland to begin to take racism seriously, Mr Sadiq said:
“They need to be honest, they need to listen and listen actively … they need to respect the knowledge base they have access to and be open, be accountable.
“Sports unite people – that’s what we know. In this case sport has been dividing.”
