Yorkshire suspend coach Andrew Gale for historic tweet amid racism scandal

Yorkshire head coach Andrew Gale has been suspended from his role pending an investigation into historic tweets where he used an anti-Semitic slur.

In a sign that new chairman Lord Patel is taking action to go with his words, Gale’s position looks increasingly precarious as the club try to get its house in order.

The positions of chief executive Mark Arthur and Director of Cricket Martyn Moxon are also hanging by a thread with MPs threatening to step in if the club and the ECB don’t take appropriate action.

The situation has already taken its toll on Moxon who has been signed off work with a stress related illness. It appears unlikely he will return.

It emerged on Friday that Gale was being investigated by the club over an anti-semitic post on social media.

In a now deleted Tweet that was posted back when he was Yorkshire captain, Gale is allegedly said to have called Paul Dews, the former head of media at Leeds United, a "y**".

Arthur told Jewish News at the time that the club were looking into the matter and he described Gale's post as "completely unacceptable".

He said: "This kind of behaviour would be completely unacceptable to the club. Now we are aware of it, it goes without saying that we will investigate the allegation thoroughly."

Gale told the publication he was "completely unaware" that the term was offensive and insisted that he would not have used it had he "been aware of its offensive meaning".

Yorkshire have now confirmed that Gale has been suspended, releasing a statement which read: "We can confirm that Andrew Gale, Yorkshire first XI coach, is currently suspended pending a disciplinary hearing following an historic tweet.

"The club will make a further statement once this process has been completed."

Moxon, who has faced numerous calls to resign from the likes of Azeem Rafiq and former Yorkshire chairman Roger Hutton, is currently absent from his role with a stress related illness.

The statement added: "Director of cricket Martyn Moxon is, as of today (9 November), absent from work due to a stress related illness. He will be given the necessary support."

On Monday, Rafiq reiterated his call for Moxon and Arthur to resign, saying in a statement: "Mark Arthur, Martyn Moxon and many of those in the coaching staff have been part of the problem.

"They have consistently failed to take responsibility for what happened on their watch and must go.

"I urge them to do the right thing and resign to make way for those who will do what is needed for the club’s future."

The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket has called for evidence from all stakeholders to go into their report on the state of the game due to be published

Fill out the survey in confidence at https://eu.research.net/r/PH2H6XM

Source: Read Full Article