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Historic anti-semitic tweet emerges from Yorkshire CC coach Andrew Gale to ex-Leeds executive
A historic tweet has emerged of the Yorkshire Cricket Club head coach Andrew Gale tweeting an antisemitic slur to a Leeds United executive.
The cricket club is currently in the midst of a racism crisis after an investigation into claims made by former bowler Azeem Rafiq who, it has been found, was the victim of “racial harassment and bullying” during his time with Yorkshire CC.
Now, in a report from Jewish News, it has emerged that Gale called Paul Dews, former head of media at Leeds, a “yid” on Twitter in 2010.
Gale was club captain of Yorkshire CC at the time, and he wrote to Dews, then at Leeds and now at Middlesbrough: “Thought you might pipe up! Button it yid!”
Gale has since told Jewish News that he was “completely unaware” of the offensive nature of the term at the time he sent the message, and deleted its contents soon after it was posted following a telephone conversation with Dews, who educated Gale on the meaning of the term.
Gale has since explained that, as an avid Huddersfield Town fan, it was a “reference to a chant that was prevalent at the time in relation to Leeds fans.”
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Yorkshire Cricket Club’s chief executive Mark Arthur has also told Jewish News that “this kind of behaviour would be completely unacceptable to the club”, with an investigation set to follow.
Shocking
The tweet may have been from 2010, but it further highlights the completely unacceptable culture within the Yorkshire CC dressing room.
The racism experienced by Rafiq, and his subsequent outing of it, have precipitated a crisis at the club as their handling of the case has been roundly condemned.
Indeed, a number of board members have stepped down in recent days following the controversy [BBC].
This latest report from Jewish News is just another example of the culture that was allowed to exist at the club.
The anti-semitic slur in question has been widely discussed in football quarters in recent years, with the general feeling that it is one that should cease to exist as it has often been used as a pejorative term to describe Jewish people.
It remains to be seen what will now happen to Gale as his job could well be on the line, but the main takeaway from this controversy is that people have to be mindful of the language they use and certainly be more aware of what is discrimination.
In other Leeds United news, a reliable journalist has suggested that this big-money Whites player is set to be benched against Leicester City on Sunday.