Former Coach Wins Claim Against Yorkshire After Racism Row

Former Yorkshire head coach Andrew Gale has won a claim for unfair dismissal against the county following the fall-out from the Azeem Rafiq racism row. Gale, 38, was one of 16 members of staff sacked by the English county following Rafiq’s revelations of racist abuse he suffered while playing for the club. He made his legal complaint along with several other dismissed members of staff, including second team coach Ian Dews.

An employment tribunal judge found that their complaint was “well founded” in a ruling dated May 23 but published on Tuesday.

If the club and their former staff members cannot reach an agreement, another hearing will be held to determine the extent of compensation, with Yorkshire facing the prospect of paying out huge sums.

Former batsman Gale spent his entire career at Yorkshire from 2004-16, latterly as captain, before becoming head coach at the age of 32.

He was suspended — as part of an investigation into a tweet he sent in 2010 — before he was sacked on December 3.

An England and Wales Cricket Board investigation into the racism allegations made by Rafiq, who said he had been driven to thoughts of suicide, is still to be published.

Rafiq’s revelations led to a mass clear-out of senior boardroom figures and coaching staff at the county’s Headingley headquarters in Leeds, while a new chairman, Kamlesh Patel, has become the face of a fresh regime.

Promoted

The ECB warned Yorkshire they were prepared to remove lucrative England internationals from Headingley unless changes were made.

But those matches, including this month’s third Test against New Zealand, are set to go ahead as scheduled after Patel’s package of governance reforms was approved by Yorkshire’s membership in March.