Yorkshire have been fined £400,000 and given a 48-point deduction in this year’s County Championship by the ECB’s Cricket Discipline Commission as a result of allegations of racism and discrimination at the club over a 17-year period. The club will not appeal against the decision, bringing to an end the turmoil provoked when Azeem Rafiq first made public his experiences at the club in September 2020.

The club admitted four charges, with separate fines levied for each. The mishandling of their initial report into Rafiq’s experiences brought an £80,000 fine; the deliberate mass deletion of emails and documents relating to that report brought a £50,000 fine, and both for repeatedly failing to act upon allegations of racist behaviour, and for failing to address “the systemic use of racist or discriminatory language” between 2004 and 2021 they were fined £135,000.

In its report the CDC said Yorkshire had “already been significantly punished financially, organisationally and reputationally” over the past three years, conceding that “the club’s current finances are fragile” and said it had “the current financial state of the club very much in mind when considering the appropriate penalties”. As a result £300,000 of the headline fine will be suspended for two years, to be triggered if Yorkshire are found guilty of any further serious breach of cricketing regulations, and the remaining £100,000 will be paid in four equal instalments between January and September 2024.

The CDC decided that since there had been “a culture of discrimination which was ingrained within the club’s playing environment”, a points deduction “which properly reflects the magnitude of the problem” was required. Yorkshire have also been deducted four points in this year’s T20 Blast, which has already concluded. But they decided to “enable a clean slate from a playing perspective for the seasons ahead”, and did not impose a points penalty for this year’s One-Day Cup, which starts next month.

While accepting the sanctions, Yorkshire said in a statement: “We are disappointed to receive the points deductions, which affects players and staff at the club, who were not responsible for the situation. They have worked tirelessly on and off the field to rebuild Yorkshire into an inclusive and welcoming club that reflects the communities it serves. Greater clarity over our situation will allow us all now to look ahead.”

The ECB’s chief executive, Richard Gould, recognised that Yorkshire are “on a path to a much brighter and more inclusive future”, saying: “These were serious charges relating to racism over a prolonged period. There can be no place for racism in our game, and the penalties mark the end of a thorough disciplinary process. No one should have to experience what Azeem Rafiq went through in cricket, and we once again thank him for his courage in speaking out.”