Racism in sports: Sammy stresses on need to educate young cricketers

Former West Indies captain Darren Sammy wants that young cricketers should be formally educated about anti-racism just like the anti-doping and anti-corruption awareness programmes.

The will held in reduction of racial-abuse in the sport and promote value of diversity, said the veteran who had made shocking revelations about facing racial remarks while playing in the Indian  Premier League.

“There is a need for education at a systematic level. Just as there is an emphasis on education around anti-doping or anti-corruption, the same emphasis must be given to educating the youth on anti-racism in order to help young cricketers understand diversity in cricket and adapt early on,” said Sammy.

The two-time T20 World Cup-winning Caribbean skipper was speaking at ICC’s online programme “Interviews Inside Out”. England’s women team player of Indian origin Isa Guha, former South Africa all-rounder JP Duminy, former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody, and Pakistan’s Bazid Khan were the other participants in the show, moderated by former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop..

Sammy had alleged that some teammates in Sunrisers Hyderabad would call him ‘Kalu’ due to the colour of his skin. He had called for an apology from the players.

“We have a real opportunity with cricket because it does cross different races, backgrounds, and religions, and does bring all of these different people together. It is really a sport that unites everyone. I mean, look at the current England (men’s) team, we stumbled upon this team that is so diverse. But the most important thing for me is representation. This team represents the UK, so people from Muslim communities, black communities can look at these guys and say, they’ve managed to do it, so can I. The other thing I am proud of, about this team is their intention to learn a lot about each other’s cultures. That for me undoubtedly has led to their success. It was similar for us, Ebony (Ebony Rainford-Brent) and I in the 2009 ICC World Cup,” said Isha Guha.

Moody emphasised that the seniors in the team, administrators, captains and coaches need to take  responsibility to educate youngsters. “Leaders in our cricket community whether it is a captain, senior player, a coach or an administrator, we have an enormous responsibility as an educator along may different platforms. One of those platforms I think that has been neglected and not given the attention that is required and that is the understanding of the different levels of racism that exists within the game. If there is anything positive that has come out of this, is that it is highlighting that we need to be a lot more understanding of how we can make this better as individuals. From my personal experiences have always enjoyed the challenges of working in different cultures and environments. To learn from these as against resisting the challenges of those different environments,” he said.

In his closing remarks Ian Bishop added, “There is no one here who is demanding a free gift, we all work very diligently and very hard and what we want to see is equality across the globe and an equal chance for everyone.”

There have been worldwide protests and calls to address the subject of racism after African-American George Floyd was killed by a white police officer in the USA.

Admin Sportz Front

Read Previous

Media Rights: RTL to end F1 broadcast deal after 30 years

Read Next

WWE legend Undertaker bids adieu to professional wrestling