Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Wednesday (June 3) joined its players in condemning racism after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, in police custody.
The incident took place on May 25 in Minneapolis and a video of the same went viral on the same day. In the little footage, a white police officer can be seen pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes even after the latter stopped moving and started pleading for air.
Floyd’s death has sparked days of protests across the United States while in London a demonstration was held in support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Global sports icons from Tiger Woods, Marcus Rashford to West Indies cricketers such as Chris Gayle and Daren Sammy also came forward to speak openly against the racism faced by people of colour throughout the world.
"We join our cricketers, other cricket stakeholders, all sportsmen, sportswomen, and sports administrators, in speaking out against all forms of racism and inequality," CWI said in a statement.
The CWI further added that people from the Caribbean have fought many battles to retain their dignity and identity.
"The people of the West Indies have fought many battles of our own, on and off the field. We have been blessed to witness the prowess, determination and leaders of our cricketing heroes who united the Caribbean and brought great success and pride to our people," it stated.
After Gayle revealed that racism is an issue that exists even in cricket, former West Indies skipper Sammy asked the ICC to condemn such behaviour.
The CWI made it clear that it stood by its players. "Our cricketing heroes helped in large measure to pave the way for cricket and our West Indian societies to thrive at home, and generated great enjoyment and dignity for the West Indian diaspora abroad while they faced their own experiences of inequality and injustice in their adopted homes.
"We therefore support all sporting icons and role models who are today leading the way in peacefully protesting and standing against the scourge of racism and injustice."
(With PTI inputs)
