Former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq believes there has been a change in mentality in football that has led to the increase of representation within the sport, a shift he believes has been absent in cricket.
Rafiq was speaking at a DCMS hearing on Tuesday, detailing the horrific racist abuse he suffered while playing with Yorkshire.
And he says it isn't only a Yorkshire issue, but a systematic problem within the sport of cricket.
Rafiq added that Liverpool's Jordan Henderson and Manchester United's Marcus Rashford are an example of how cricket, and the world, should behave.
“I’m not fully in tune with football but what I’ve seen over the last year and a half is some high-profile footballers showing the world how to behave, with Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson,” he said.
“Clearly there has been some sort of shift in football.
“A lot of people said this to me at the start: ‘we would have never expected this from cricket’.
“Cricket has been allowed for a long time, it’s a boys’ network, people that come in as a player in ‘92 and are still director of cricket at Yorkshire now. It shows how closed that network is.
“No-one has ever been a whistleblower, no-one has ever had the courage to come forward because of the fear of not being believed.”
The Premier League duo have been vocal in football's own battle with racism, as players continue to take a knee before each match in protest of discrimination.
The Liverpool captain has previously spoken out on the need to show support to fellow players, as he told the BBC earlier this year: "It needs to be white players as well who show their support, because it's not right.
"Seeing team-mates suffer, not only at Liverpool but with England and players at different clubs, what they're abused with, is tough to take.
"I feel as though if I can make positive change and help them, it's important that I do."
Rashford has also opened up on the horrific racist abuse suffered after England's Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy in the summer, and says discrimination is 'never acceptable'.
He also told the BBC : "There's never a time that racism is acceptable, we shouldn't accept racism and get on with our lives.
"On the biggest stage for us as young players, racism was put on the front for us. It was nice to see people support us without us even having said anything."
