Playing it fair: After Daren Sammy, Shikhar Dhawan's son attacked by racist trolls, IPL says 'zero-tolerance' for racism
A teammate assured Sammy that the name came out of 'a place of love'.
By Maleeva Rebello, ET Bureau | Updated:
Agencies
The IPL hasn’t been played so far this year. But the tournament stayed in the news when Daren Sammy of the West Indies said that he and Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera, members of the Hyderabad franchise, were called by the racist nickname ‘Kalu’ by some teammates in 2013.
Sammy brushed off the matter after a teammate assured him the name came out of “a place of love”. And Sunrisers Hyderabad did not answer ETPanache’s questions on the subject. But with the world going through testing times and the need for prudence even greater now, Sammy’s experience could not be ignored. Moreover, a Rajasthan Royals player was also subjected to a racist comment a few days ago. Even Shikhar Dhawan’s six-year-old son Zoraver wasn’t spared by trolls. As a result, some teams are responding strongly against racist behaviour or comments.
Zero-tolerance policy
A Rajasthan Royals spokesperson said, “We took a stand against the racist comment by responding on Twitter saying, ‘We spotted a highly objectionable and disturbing tweet directing racist abuse towards our player in a reply to one of our tweets yesterday. We reported and blocked the individual immediately. Diversity is integral to Rajasthan Royals. Racism will NOT be tolerated’.”
While there is no anti-racism policy for individual teams, the BCCI and the IPL do have a code. All teams abide by it. The IPL website states, “Engaging in any conduct (whether through the use of language, gestures or otherwise) which is likely to offend, insult, humiliate, intimidate, threaten, disparage or vilify any reasonable person in the position of a Player, Team Official, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator) on the basis of their race, religion, culture, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin.”
If players are reported under it, they stand trial and disciplinary action can be taken against them. A spokesperson for Delhi Capitals said, “The franchises do not have any separate codes or policies. The central rules are followed by everyone.”
Building awareness
A few teams are considering having an educational program on racism as part of their internal training. They are still working out the details.
Aesha, the wife of former Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Shikhar Dhawan, condemned racism on social media targetted at their son, Zoraver. A few days ago, someone called the young boy ‘black’.
Aesha posted on Instagram, “If a person is brown, black, white or yellow, what does it matter? Funny thing to me is that certain people that are Indian have a problem with skin colour when logically and biologically brown skin is very normal in those parts of the world. The more you deny your reality, the more you are suffering. I own myself completely and so do my kids.”
Sammy brushed off the matter after a teammate assured him the name came out of “a place of love”. And Sunrisers Hyderabad did not answer ETPanache’s questions on the subject. But with the world going through testing times and the need for prudence even greater now, Sammy’s experience could not be ignored. Moreover, a Rajasthan Royals player was also subjected to a racist comment a few days ago. Even Shikhar Dhawan’s six-year-old son Zoraver wasn’t spared by trolls. As a result, some teams are responding strongly against racist behaviour or comments.
Zero-tolerance policy
A Rajasthan Royals spokesperson said, “We took a stand against the racist comment by responding on Twitter saying, ‘We spotted a highly objectionable and disturbing tweet directing racist abuse towards our player in a reply to one of our tweets yesterday. We reported and blocked the individual immediately. Diversity is integral to Rajasthan Royals. Racism will NOT be tolerated’.”
While there is no anti-racism policy for individual teams, the BCCI and the IPL do have a code. All teams abide by it. The IPL website states, “Engaging in any conduct (whether through the use of language, gestures or otherwise) which is likely to offend, insult, humiliate, intimidate, threaten, disparage or vilify any reasonable person in the position of a Player, Team Official, Umpire, Match Referee or any other person (including a spectator) on the basis of their race, religion, culture, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin.”
If players are reported under it, they stand trial and disciplinary action can be taken against them. A spokesperson for Delhi Capitals said, “The franchises do not have any separate codes or policies. The central rules are followed by everyone.”
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A King’s XI Punjab spokesperson said, “As an IPL franchise we are covered by the IPL anti-racism code, which is extremely comprehensive and has zero tolerance for any discrimination on the basis of race.”Building awareness
A few teams are considering having an educational program on racism as part of their internal training. They are still working out the details.
Aesha, the wife of former Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Shikhar Dhawan, condemned racism on social media targetted at their son, Zoraver. A few days ago, someone called the young boy ‘black’.
Aesha posted on Instagram, “If a person is brown, black, white or yellow, what does it matter? Funny thing to me is that certain people that are Indian have a problem with skin colour when logically and biologically brown skin is very normal in those parts of the world. The more you deny your reality, the more you are suffering. I own myself completely and so do my kids.”
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The auctions for the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) took place in Kolkata on Thursday. The event was attended by the owners and the coaches of the eight franchises and a whopping Rs 140.30 crore was spent. The thrilling auction saw intense bidding wars between the owners of the franchises as each one of them tried their best to clinch as many good players as possible. Here are the highlights of the auction.
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