Graves set for Yorkshire return after Rafiq racism controversy

Yorkshire members have accredited the refinancing proposal by Colin Graves, which is able to see the County Championship Division Two cricket membership’s former chairman make his return, it was introduced on Friday.

Graves was chairman of the membership between 2012-2015, a part of the interval throughout which Yorkshire was accused of failing to handle and take satisfactory motion towards racist and discriminatory language.

An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) was held in Headingley on Friday, with members voting on one particular decision relating to Graves.

“The result of the vote for the special resolution to make a number of changes to the rules of the Club required in relation to a refinancing proposal from Colin Graves as set out in the notice was announced, with members voting in favour of the rule changes,” Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) mentioned in a press release.

A complete of 746 votes have been in favour of the decision, with 99 voting towards.

“I would like to express my thanks to the membership of Yorkshire County Cricket Club who have so overwhelmingly voted to ratify the board’s decision to accept my offer to our great club,” Graves mentioned.

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“Having now been accepted by the board and membership of YCCC, that offer now requires the final approval of the Financial Conduct Authority.”

In January, Graves made a public apology, to anybody who suffered racism on the membership and for his earlier dismissal of racist incidents as banter.

Afterwards, former Yorkshire participant Azeem Rafiq mentioned he had acquired racist messages on social media after the membership’s approval of a mortgage supply from a consortium headed by Graves.

Yorkshire was fined 400,000 kilos (510,560 USD) and handed a 48-point deduction within the County Championship final 12 months after an investigation into racism allegations by Rafiq, who mentioned in 2021 he had been a sufferer of institutional racism on the membership.