LONDON: Yorkshire were suspended from staging international matches after the England and Wales Cricket Board strongly condemned their handling of a racism row involving Azeem Rafiq, with ex-England captain Michael Vaughan later denying allegations he had abused his one-time team-mate.

The 30-year-old Rafiq has accused Yorkshire of failing to deal adequately with his allegations of racism when he played for the English county.

But last week Yorkshire said they would take no disciplinary action against any staff, unleashing a wave of criticism and prompting sponsors, including Nike, to turn their backs on the club.

They stripped Headingley, Yorkshire’s headquarters in Leeds, of the right to stage a Test between England and New Zealand in June 2022, as well as a one-day international with South Africa in July.

Gary Ballance, who admitted using a racial slur against Rafiq during their time together at Yorkshire, would be “suspended indefinitely” from England selection pending an investigation, the ECB said.

Rafiq tweeted that he would need “time to reflect” on the ECB’s intervention, having also alleged “institutional racism and abject failures by numerous leaders at Yorkshire”, as well as in the wider game.

‘Unprecedented action’

“I completely and categorically deny that I ever said those words,” Vaughan wrote in the newspaper.

Depriving Yorkshire of England matches could cost the county millions of pounds, with ECB chief executive Tom Harrison saying the “unprecedented action” had “very significant financial implications”.

The affair has drawn in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with his spokesman saying prior to Thursday’s statement by the ECB: “We urge the ECB to look at this carefully.”

Publishing company Emerald have ended their title sponsorship of Headingley and Nike said they would “no longer be the kit supplier for Yorkshire CCC”.

Yorkshire’s redacted report upheld seven of his claims but concluded the club was not institutionally racist.