- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Sattwik Biswal
A week after apologising for using anti-Semitic slur in exchange of messages with another cricketer, Azeem Rafiq on Thursday (25) met a Holocaust survivor at the Jewish Museum London.
The former Yorkshire cricketers spoke with Ruth Barnett, who arrived in Britain in 1939 after fleeing Nazi Germany. He also spoke to Steve Silverman from the Campaign Against Antisemitism, who explained to him the prejudice suffered by Jewish people.
Rafiq last week admitted of sending anti-Semitic messages more than a decade ago where he joked about a Derbyshire player, Atif Sheikh, being reluctant to spend money on a meal because “he was a jew”.
Rafiq wrote that Sheikh would “probs go after my 2nds [second helping of food] again ha”, adding: “Only Jews do tht [sic] sort of s—.”
Rafiq said: “I am incredibly angry at myself and I apologise to the Jewish community and everyone who is rightly offended by this.”
As reported by Telegraph Sport, Rafiq is facing an investigation by the ECB over the messages.
The ECB is also investigating Rafiq’s accusations he was the victim of racist bullying at Yorkshire, and have come out with a action plan on Friday (26) after the cricketer’s testimony.
