The ECB does not get to act surprised at this week’s events, to dance away from responsibility – it has failed, repeatedly, to actOh no you don’t, Tom Harrison. Hold it right there, the England and Wales Cricket Board. Drop the mask of simpering piety. Lose the grave, troubled look. There is no doubt that English cricket’s continuing, historic problem with racism is a resigning issue for someone, that it speaks to both a sickly culture and a failure of regulation.But before we start apportioning that blame, let us be clear on the roles here. The ECB does not get to act surprised at this, to get away with flaming some flunkies, dropping the toxic Yorkshire brand, throwing its hands...
Simply replacing horse riding with cycling, as proposed, would not tackle the Olympic sport’s anachronistic make-upNow here’s an intriguing proposition for Guardian readers, a letter from Major General EHH Allenby, inspector of cavalry, aka the Bloody Bull, on behalf of the British Olympic Council, published on Thursday 7 August 1913, calling for volunteers to step forward for the British team in the new Olympic discipline of modern pentathlon at the Berlin Games in 1916. “The competition consists of the following five events,” Allenby explained, “revolver or pistol shooting at a whole figure decimal target, distance, 25m, swimming, 300m free style, fencing, weapon; epee, riding cross-country, 5,000m, cross-country running, 4,000m.” Tempted?The Guardian, it has to be said, didn’t go in much...
The investigation panel may not have found sufficient evidence of racism at the club, but how else can the Azeem Rafiq saga be viewed?Yorkshire County Cricket Club are institutionally racist. There: that wasn’t so hard, was it? For years Yorkshire enabled, tolerated and normalised a dressing-room culture of racist discourse. They failed to create a welcoming environment for Muslims and other ethnic minorities. They continued and continue to employ staff who have made racist comments.When a former player raised serious allegations of longstanding racist behaviour three years ago, the club initially did nothing and then reportedly offered him a six-figure payout to keep quiet. Under investigation, they have chosen at every turn to prioritise their own reputation and their own...
A new constitution has been adopted by a sport that has been riddled with doping and corruption in an attempt to retain the place it has held on the Games’ schedule since 1896In all the excitement it was easy to miss the press release put out by the International Olympic Committee on 6 August announcing a tweak to rule 59 1.2b of the Olympic charter. But in one little corner of the Games hundreds of athletes and officials were hanging on the change. The rule now states that the IOC’s executive board has the power to “suspend any sport, discipline or event” if the federation running it acts “in a manner likely to tarnish the Olympic movement”. Which, for those...
Beach volleyball in Rio was a riotous joy but how will it play when a city is essentially forced against its will to host the global event?You don’t get a great deal of down time as a jobbing hack at the Olympics but my schedule at the Rio Games meant the laptop lid was sometimes snapped shut by around 7pm. Ablutions at the team hotel were followed by a couple of beers in the company of any colleagues who might also have found themselves at a loose end. Thirst slaked, it was feeding time: a coronary of assorted succulent meats washed down by plonk at one of the myriad beachfront all-you-can-eat steakhouses.Exhausted, stuffed, pleasantly sozzled and with the sanctuary of...