Cricket Scotland faces special measures status after report into racism

An independent review has recommended that Cricket Scotland is placed in special measures by Sportscotland after 448 examples of institutional racism were revealed.

Cricket Scotland failed in 29 out of 31 indicators of institutional racism following an investigation by consultancy firm Plan4Sport. The governing body only partially passed the other two tests.

The findings of the Changing the Boundaries report have been described as a “wake-up call for Scottish sport”. The review was prompted by allegations from former Scotland players Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh in November and staff spoke to hundreds of people.

From those conversations, 68 individual concerns have been referred for further investigation, including 31 allegations of racism against 15 people, two clubs and one regional association. The allegations include racial abuse, use of inappropriate language, favouritism towards white children from public schools and a lack of a transparent selection process.

An interim report in April revealed that some incidents had been referred to police and it has now emerged that one individual has appeared in court as a result. Most (62%) of the respondents to a survey had experienced, seen or received reports of racism or other forms of discrimination.

The review also found a lack of any diversity or anti-racist training; no consistent process for handling racist incidents, with people who did raise issues “sidelined or ignored,” a lack of diversity from board level to the coaching workforce and within the talent pathway, and a lack of transparency in the selection process.

The managing director of Plan4Sport, Louise Tideswell, declared it was clear that the “governance and leadership practices of Cricket Scotland have been