Yorkshire are facing another crisis in
the form of a player revolt after the
county sacked 16 employees, including
their entire coaching staff.
The club culled the director of cricket,
Martyn Moxon, and the head coach,
Andrew Gale, the medical team and
members of the HR department in
response to the public outcry over their
handling of claims of institutional
racism made by the former bowler
Azeem Rafiq.
Lord Patel of Bradford, the club’s new-
ly installed chairman, said the changes
were necessary to “move on from the
past and become a culture which is
progressive and inclusive”. A replace-
ment director of cricket is expected to
be announced “in the coming days”.
Revolt over Yorkshire sackings
Elizabeth Ammon
Crisis talks were held yesterday
between the chairman and members of
the squad, with some players objecting
to the dismissals so strongly that they
were considering leaving.
All those who have been sacked
received notice of their termination of
employment in the past few days. The
club are now braced for legal action
from those who believe that they have
been wrongfully dismissed and have
had their names tarnished by the
racism scandal at Headingley.
Moxon had been absent for a month
since being signed off with a stress-
related illness, while Gale was
being investigated over a historical
antisemitic tweet.
It is understood that every member
of staff who signed a letter to the York-
shire board in October that criticised
Rafiq’s behaviour at the club and theboard’s decision to apologise to the 30-
year-old, has been sacked.
The letter, which was signed by about
ten Yorkshire employees, described the
“extreme hurt” they felt and listed
details of what, they believed made
Rafiq “problematic”. They also claimed
that Rafiq’s allegations were part of a
“one-man mission to bring down the
club and with it, people of genuine
integrity” and that the criticisms
levelled at Moxon and the former chief
executive, Mark Arthur, were “not only
misdirected but grossly unfair”.
Patel confirmed in October that the
letter had been received by the board
and that it was “troubling for many
reasons, and further evidence of the
wider issues the club has faced”.
The clearout of personnel started last
month, with the resignations of Roger
Continued on page 16Rangnick: I may stay on as
manager if I start strongly
Paul HirstRalf Rangnick has admitted that he
may try to persuade the Manchester
United board to keep him on as manag-
er beyond the end of the season.
Rangnick yesterday spoke publicly
for the first time since he signed a deal
to become the interim manager until
June, when the club expect him to take
up a two-year consultancy role.
United want to make Mauricio
Pochettino, the Paris Saint-Germain
head coach, their manager next season,
but Rangnick said that if all goes well,
he could try to tempt his superiors to
prolong his stay in the dugout.
“The people with whom I have spo-
ken so far have been very clear thatwe’re talking about a six-month role as
a manager currently,” Rangnick said.
“Maybe if they ask my opinion and
everything goes well and we develop
the team, I might even make the same
recommendation to the board that I did
at Leipzig twice when I recommended
it might be a good idea to keep working
with me for one year.”
Rangnick has spent much of the past
nine years out of management, prima-
rily as a sporting director for RB Leip-
zig, RB Salzburg and Lokomotiv Mos-
cow, but the 63-year-old said he feels
the most comfortable in the dugout.
“Right now I feel and think and will
very much want to work as a coach,
head coach and team manager for the
team,” he added. “This is what I’ve done
Continued on page 2Sp or t
SATURDAY DECEMBER 4 2021Harlequins
uncovered
Matt Dickinson reveals the
secrets of their title successPAGES 18-19Hamilton cannot slip
up if he wants to
overtake Verstappen
NO
ROOM
FOR
ERROR
VERSTAPPEN
351.5 PTS
HAMILTON
343.5 PTS
PAGE 17SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX
TOMORROW 5.30PM - SKY SPORTS F1