Police have launched a criminal investigation into claims of racist abuse among the crowd on the fourth day of the rescheduled fifth Test between England and India at Edgbaston.
Warwickshire and the ECB began their own investigations into the claims, which emerged publicly on Monday night when several supporters said on Twitter that they had suffered racist abuse from other fans. Their complaints were highlighted by Azeem Rafiq, the whistleblower whose allegations of a culture of institutional racism have seen Yorkshire charged with bringing the game into disrepute.
In a statement released immediately after England completed a seven-wicket victory before lunch on Tuesday's fifth day, Stuart Cain, Warwickshire's chief executive, said the club had provided police with CCTV images and information, adding that anyone prosecuted faced being banned from Edgbaston and other venues around the country.
"Any form of abuse isn't acceptable in life or sport," Cain said. "So, I'm angry about the fact that people think it's acceptable at an international cricket event and apologise for the distress it's caused.
"I have spoken to those who raised the issue on social media, the stewards managing the Eric Hollies Stand and the police. There has been a great atmosphere over five days involving more than 100,000 England and India fans but when this issue was reported to the stewards, they couldn't pinpoint where the alleged abuse was coming from so stewards and the police monitored the area...
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