Yorkshire suspend head coach Andrew Gale amid investigation in historic Antisemitic tweet

Director of cricket Martyn Moxon is absent due to a stress-related illness. The independent whistleblowing hotline promised by new chairman Lord Patel will be set up by the end of the week

Head coach Andrew Gale has been suspended by Yorkshire amid an investigation into a historic tweet that included an Antisemitic hate slur.

The former captain used the term in a post sent via Twitter in November 2010, which was uncovered by Jewish News last week. His suspension is pending a disciplinary hearing.

In a statement, Gale stated he was “completely unaware” of the offensive nature of the message sent to Paul Dews, who at the time was head of media at Leeds United Football Club.

As a player, Gale was banned for four matches and ordered to complete an anger management course by the ECB after abusing Ashwell Prince during a County Championship match against Lancashire in 2014.

It comes amid the fall-out from the independent report into institutional racism at Yorkshire, sparked by allegations made by former captain Azeem Rafiq, which upheld seven charges.

Gary Ballance and Michael Vaughan, the ex-England skipper were among those named in the report though Yorkshire chose to take no action.

Elsewhere, director of cricket Martyn Moxon is currently absent from work due to a stress-related illness and the club are providing the necessary support.

In his opening address as chairman, having replaced Roger Hutton after his resignation last week, Lord Kamlesh Patel condemned a number of threats directed towards current staff at the Headingley club.

The club have also confirmed that the full report into the allegations made by Rafiq which included 29 interviews with 26 witnesses will be re-sent to the DCMS select committee after Julian Knight MP claimed not to have received the document.

^{Lord Patel has been installed as the new Yorkshire chairman}

Patel has pledged to give those with a "legal interest" in the report access to the findings. Rafiq is set to give evidence to the committee on November 16.

A whistleblowing hotline to allow a safe space for players to report incidents of discrimination is set to be open by the end of the week. The club have also backed the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket's ‘Call For Evidence’.

Rafiq's former teammate Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and ex-academy player Irfan Amjad have since come forward with allegations of racism.

“Yorkshire County Cricket Club should be a club for everyone in Yorkshire," Patel said in a statement.

“As I said in the press conference yesterday we need to listen to anyone who has experienced racism, discrimination and abuse at this cricket club, and I urge others to come forward to share their experiences.

“We are aware that, since I spoke yesterday, a number of allegations have been made from individuals about their experiences in the media. These need to be properly investigated.

“I announced that an independent whistleblowing hotline will be set up as quickly as possible, as a safe space for people to come forward with disclosures. 

"Once it is operational – and I have asked for this to happen by the end of this week – this will be the first step to a new and dedicated process to receive and to respond directly to all allegations and concerns.

“We want anyone who may have suffered issues to come forward, and these will be considered carefully and with due diligence."

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