Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sharad Pawar and chairman of Cricket Australia, Creagh O’Connor today issued a joint statement deploring racism of any kind anywhere in cricket. They said there is no place for racism in cricket, either on or off the field, and reiterated their support for ICC player and anti-racism codes which support this objective. “Cricket crowds in all cricket nations are often noisy and boisterous, which is part of the fun of cricket,” they said in their joint statement. “But all cricket nations have to be on guard to ensure that the fun does not cross the boundary into unacceptable behaviour. If it does, it is our expectation that the specifics of the ICC Anti Racism Code be enforced without fear or favour. Players of all countries have a right to expect they will be treated with respect wherever they play in the world.” They further added that “spectators, team officials or players who are concerned about inappropriate behaviour of other people at venues should draw that behaviour to the attention of venue authorities immediately so that it can be assessed on the spot and, if appropriate, addressed immediately rather than being reviewed via media reports published well after the crowd has gone home.”Earlier, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had warned the Indian board that it must abide by its anti-racism code and act seriously on the incident of racist crowd behaviour against Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds in Vadodara.The BCCI has played down the incident only to irk the Australian team and the ICC, which has sought an explanation from the Indian board on the issue. BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah has also conceded that the board has not appointed an anti-racism officer, despite it being a requirement of the ICC for all Test-playing nations, a Sydney Morning Herald report said today.But both Ray Mali, ICC’s acting chairman, and David Morgan, the chairman-elect, have stated in no uncertain terms that India must fall into line with other cricketing nations and abide by the anti-racism code.“Every member of the ICC is a signatory to that code, and we expect everyone to follow it. If there is someone not abiding by that, then certainly we will do something about it. As the ICC president, I strongly condemn incidents of racism wherever they occur,” Mali told a local daily in Melbourne.
