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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matthew Cooper

Middlesex become first County Championship side to sign Muslim Athlete Charter

Middlesex have become the first County Championship side to sign the Muslim Athlete Charter in a move they say will help the county "strengthen its voice and zero tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination".

The charter launched back in June and aims to "promote a culture of educational excellence for the Muslim athletes".

Thirty-seven football clubs across Europe have already signed the charter, while England stars Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali are ambassadors for the organisation.

Ankit Shah, the Co-Chair of Middlesex's Diversity and Inclusivity Committee, said the charter will help the county show that "cricket is a game that is welcoming and can be enjoyed by everyone at all levels".

He said: "We are absolutely focussed on learning all that we can in our quest to make Middlesex a wholly inclusive Club.

"There is a lot of good work already happening, however there is much still to be done if we are to reach our goals, and the signing of this Charter is a significant step towards us getting there.

"This is not about us promoting cricket, this is about us showing that cricket is a game that is welcoming and can be enjoyed by everyone at all levels.

"Making this commitment will assist us greatly in ensuring that the steps we are taking have a positive and valuable impact on the lives of those in the game, and I couldn’t be prouder that Middlesex Cricket has followed many leading organisations in other sports in signing the Charter."

Last month, Middlesex chairman Mike O'Farrell was criticised for comments he made about the Afro-Caribbean and South Asian communities while giving evidence to a parliamentary committee.

"The other thing in the diversity bit is that the football and rugby world becomes much more attractive to the Afro-Caribbean community," O'Farrell told MPs.

Middlesex have signed the Muslim Athlete Charter (Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images for Surrey CCC)

"And in terms of the South Asian community, there is a moment where we're finding that they do not want necessarily to commit the same time that is necessary to go to the next step because they sometimes prefer to go into other educational fields, and then cricket becomes secondary.

"And part of that is because it's a rather more time-consuming sport than some others. So we're finding that's difficult."

O'Farrell's comments were slammed as "outdated" by former England batter Ebony Rainford-Brent and he later apologised.

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