Entire coaching staff leave cricket club after Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq opened up about racist abuse he’d received
- Former Rafiq gave testimony to British politicians last month in which he said his career had been ended by the abuse he received at the club
- An independent report found Pakistan-born Rafiq, 30, was a victim of ‘racial harassment and bullying’
Yorkshire’s director of cricket Martyn Moxon and head coach Andrew Gale have left the troubled county side along with the entire coaching staff in the latest fallout from a damaging racism scandal.
Former Yorkshire off-spinner Azeem Rafiq gave harrowing testimony to British politicians last month in which he said his career had been ended by the abuse he received at the club.
Rafiq had previously called for Moxon and Gale to step down, claiming the club could not move forward until they left Headingley.
Moxon, a 61-year-old former Yorkshire and England opening batsman, had been signed off from work because of a stress-related illness since the scandal erupted, while Gale, 38, who previously captained the club, had been suspended pending a disciplinary hearing over a historical tweet.
Their departures follow those of club chairman Roger Hutton and chief executive Mark Arthur, who resigned following widespread condemnation of Yorkshire over their treatment of Rafiq.
Moxon and Gale were heavily criticised at the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee hearing in London.
“We can confirm that Martyn Moxon, director of cricket, and Andrew Gale, first XI coach, have left the club today in addition to all members of the coaching team,” a Yorkshire statement said on Friday.
“A new director of cricket will be appointed imminently, alongside a new coaching team which is being recruited.”