CEO of Cricket Scotland denies allegations of making stereotypical statements about ethnic minority communities
Gordon Arthur, CEO of Cricket Scotland (Image by Cricket Scotland)
The chief executive officer of Cricket Scotland, Gordon Arthur, has told the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee of Scottish Parliament that his comments on the roadblocks faced by ethnic minorities in the sport did not have any racist connotations.
Arthur, in an evidence session in October last year, said that youngsters were leaving the sport as they faced family pressure to focus on education, according to reports.
Whilst denying claims of being racist, the top official said that he had Cricket Scotland’s new chairman Anjan Luthra in mind, reports have stated.
Deemed as a form of “casual racism”, Arthur’s stereotypical statement did not go well with parliamentarians. Conservative MSP Sandesh Gulhane said that the comment made him “personally quite upset”.
The CEO on Tuesday said that his intentions were not to make a generic statement and added, “In fact, it was two days before Anjan was appointed (as Cricket Scotland chair) and his story was the story I had in mind when I said that, because I think he will tell you when he, aged 19, was pretty much told to pack in cricket and go get a job.”
“It was that story that was in my mind when I was saying that at the committee last time,” he continued while giving evidence on Tuesday.
Image courtesy by Facebook @DrSandeshGulhaneMSP
However, Gulhane shot back at Arthur and said, “I was personally quite upset with some of those words that you made at the last committee hearing.”
“Whilst that is Anjan’s story, we don’t know if that is the story for everyone because you don’t have the data, which is why I think it is so important that you get it as a matter of priority.
“If you don’t know why people are leaving, then, surely you can’t dismantle the barriers,” he added.
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