Zimbabwe’s cricket board said Monday it was investigating allegations of racism made by senior player Prosper Utseya against the board’s managing director and former national team captain Alistair Campbell.
Utseya’s accusations were made in a letter to the board in which he claimed Campbell was behind his own recent omission from the team.
Utseya, who is black, also claimed Campbell, who is white, favored whites ahead of blacks when it came to appointing the captain of the national team and coaching staff.
A committee had been set up to look at Utseya’s allegations, Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Wilson Manase said. He said Utseya’s letter had been sent to the board “a long time ago.”
“We must treat this carefully and rest assured the board is handling it,” Manase said. “We must find a way to resolve this to make sure that everyone involved in the game remain at one. We don’t want to bring divisions that are not warranted.”
Utseya declined to comment, saying his letter was not meant to be made public.
He reportedly sent his letter soon after the World Cup in February and March in Australia and New Zealand, where he didn’t play a game for Zimbabwe.
However, Utseya was a surprise inclusion in the Zimbabwe squad for the showpiece tournament anyway after being banned from bowling his offspinners by the ICC last year because of an illegal action.
One of Utseya’s accusations against Campbell was that the managing director had made comments in the media that undermined the player with regard to his bowling.