By IANS
Mumbai : The Indian and Australian cricket boards Wednesday issued a joint statement deploring racism of any kind in the sport after Australia’s Andrew Symonds was targeted with racist taunts by crowds.
In their joint statement, Sharad Pawar, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and Creagh O’Connor, chairman of Cricket Australia, said there was no place for racism in cricket, either on or off the field, and reiterated their support for the player.
They also noted that racism is a global problem and not confined to specific nations.
“Cricket crowds in all cricket nations are often noisy and boisterous, which is part of the fun of cricket.
“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,” the statement said.
“Players of all countries have a right to expect they will be treated with respect, wherever they play in the world.
“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.”
Pawar and O’Connor added that everybody in cricket has to do whatever they can to address racism.
The duo also added that they were concerned the ICC Anti-Racism Code could only work if it was genuinely embraced for the intent it sought to achieve, and said they had instructed their respective managements to ensure that the objectives of the code were understood and implemented appropriately at all venues.