Former England and Warwickshire pacer Tim Bresnan, on Wednesday (November 17), refuted allegations that he made racist comments towards his former Yorkshire teammate Azeem Rafiq.
However, Bresnan issued an apology to Rafiq over the bullying claims, but "categorically denied" making racist comments towards him, saying the claims were absolutely not true.
In his witness statement at a parliamentary hearing into the racism scandal on Tuesday, November 16, Rafiq accused Bresnan of "frequently making racist comments" towards him during their time together at Headingley.
He also claimed that Bresnan's behavior led him to have "suicidal thoughts." The 30-year-old Rafiq further mentioned that Bresnan later apologized for his ill behavior, but "it was just lip service."
He narrated his experiences of racism and discrimination at Yorkshire and also gave evidence of intolerable insults by his former teammates at the club to the UK Members of Parliament in the Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee (DCMS) on Tuesday.
In a statement posted on his Twitter account, Bresnan said: “I have been made aware of the bullying claims made against me and have listened to Azeem Rafiq's account of his time at Yorkshire CCC today with great distress, as I'm sure everyone will have done.”
The former pacer added, “For any part, I played in contributing to Azeem Rafiq's experience of feeling bullied at Yorkshire, I apologize unreservedly.”
He concluded, “Following the publication of Azeem's witness statement from the employment tribunal, which I saw for the first time this afternoon, I must though categorically deny his accusation that I 'frequently made racist comments'. This is absolutely not true.”
Bresnan’s county club Warwickshire stated that they will investigate Rafiq's claims against the cricketer.
As reported by BBC, Warwickshire said in a statement, “We are seriously concerned to learn of Azeem's direct allegations against Tim Bresnan. As a result, Warwickshire CCC will seek to talk to Azeem at the earliest opportunity so that we can fully understand the detail of these allegations. We will then talk to Tim to get his perspective.”
The club concluded, “This is a delicate matter, as it involves allegations about Tim's behavior while at another club. However, as we have said before, racism or bullying will not be tolerated here at Warwickshire, and we will not shirk from investigating these matters in full and taking action if necessary.”
(With PTI Inputs)
