UK PM Boris Johnson came in support of Ollie Robinson, wants ECB to rethink suspension.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson came in support of Ollie Robinson, who was earlier today suspended by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) following his derogatory and racist comments which he made over a decade ago.
Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said that the PM is supportive of the culture secretary’s view that the English cricket governing body should reconsider their decision.
Oliver Dowden, the UK government’s secretary for culture, sports, digital and media, said that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has gone too over the top in penalising the 27-years old pacer Ollie Robinson.
“Ollie Robinson’s tweets were offensive and wrong,” Mr Dowden wrote on Twitter.
“They are also a decade old and written by a teenager. The teenager is now a man and has rightly apologised. The ECB has gone over the top by suspending him and should think again.”
Robinson made an impressive start to his Test career with his brilliant performances against New Zealand in the first game of the ongoing series. The pacer picked up four and three wickets respectively in the two innings for England and also contributed with 42 runs with the bat.
“The Prime Minister is supportive of the comments from Oliver Dowden that he made via tweet this morning,” said Boris Johnson’s spokesperson on Monday.
“As Oliver Dowden set out, these were comments made more than a decade ago (sic) written by someone as a teenager, for which they’ve rightly apologised,” he added.
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The tweets which particularly targeted Muslims and the people of Asian Heritage re-surfaced last Wednesday, the first day of the England vs New Zealand opening test game, soon after Ollie Robinson was handed his test cap.
After his tweets, dating back to 2012 and 2013, caused a huge stir among the netizens, Robinson issued his unreserved apology after the stumps on Day 1.
The 27-years old said he is “embarrassed” and “ashamed” on the most important day of his life.
“I want to make it clear that I’m not racist and I’m not sexist,” Robinson had said.
“I deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks. I was thoughtless and irresponsible, and regardless of my state of mind at the time, my actions were inexcusable. Since that period, I have matured as a person and fully regret the tweets.”
ECB after the end of the first test, said that the pacer has been suspended from all forms of international cricket due to a pending probe into his matter.
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