Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah suffer racial abuse by crowd during Sydney Test

[Gabbar Singh]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I personally have heard many things on the field while playing in Australia about Me My religion My colour and much more..This isn’t the first time the crowd is doing this nonsense..How do u stop them ?? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AUSvIND?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AUSvIND</a></p>— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) <a href="https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh/status/1348136501901619200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bhajji moaning about people using racist language at a cricket match.

 

[andy0204]

Harbhajan should be the last person to say this.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

It's my personal opinion. Just like you have your own opinion. You must agree though that it shows a lack of mental strength.

Not sure about the background of these Indian players but in general to become an international cricket in such a harsh environment, you need to circumvent many obstacles including poverty.

I've read some stories about how these kids travel miles, on foot and train lugging kit to train at clubs. Have to go through trials and auditions at various state levels, competing against millions, with crazy amounts of pressure to make it. This cycle is repeated year on year until finally they can move up the ranks. In a country like India they have to defy the odds to rise to the top. Statistically for a young cricketer its unlikely they will make it.

Now after all these sacrifices both personal and family, conquering difficult odds and exceptional hardwork imagine being abused simply for doing your job by members of the crowd and then having people online causing you soft lol.

Its incredible that people can think victims of racism are soft. What a strange mentality. Racism deserves to be stamped out and the perpetrators punished severely. The soft ones arent the Indian players in this case but people like you who have inferiority complex and would rather smile when abused than stand up for yourself.

 

[Buffet]

Actually, this topic has plenty of greys. It's not always black and white.


For example, Aus teams for many eras loved to sledge opposition, but when they were on the receiving end suddenly the talk of not crossing the line came into the picture. 'The line' was drawn by the Aus team. Real-world is not like that. What acceptable to the Aus team may not be acceptable to other teams and what acceptable to other teams may not acceptable to the Aus team.

In the old era, the cricket administration was dominated by Aus and Eng. Whatever was acceptable in Aus/Eng was standard for the entire world when it came to 'the line'. Now due to India controlling the purse, we will see Indians making noise whenever they think the line was crossed. Aus and many others here may not see, obvious from some posts in the thread itself, that line was crossed.

Indian ground actually has idiots abusing players plenty of times. It simply hard to hear a single person in a huge crowd so you can't single them out. Still, I recall reading about many black players getting racially abused in India. We even had a Pakistani national player abusing a black player and we saw plenty of posters saying that it was harmless and it was due to XYZ.

The good thing with the internet era is that we will hear about such incidents more frequently, but it will help a lot in understanding that line is not just your line or your interpretations. Something can be light banter in some cultures but the same thing can be serious abuse in other cultures.

It may look like we get more incidents like this, but we do simply hear more about them. It simply makes us aware of our biases. The world is becoming a better place due to this even if it's hard to see.

 

[sharmaji]

Very well written. I agree fully with this.

Actually, this topic has plenty of greys. It's not always black and white.


For example, Aus teams for many eras loved to sledge opposition, but when they were on the receiving end suddenly the talk of not crossing the line came into the picture. 'The line' was drawn by the Aus team. Real-world is not like that. What acceptable to the Aus team may not be acceptable to other teams and what acceptable to other teams may not acceptable to the Aus team.

In the old era, the cricket administration was dominated by Aus and Eng. Whatever was acceptable in Aus/Eng was standard for the entire world when it came to 'the line'. Now due to India controlling the purse, we will see Indians making noise whenever they think the line was crossed. Aus and many others here may not see, obvious from some posts in the thread itself, that line was crossed.

Indian ground actually has idiots abusing players plenty of times. It simply hard to hear a single person in a huge crowd so you can't single them out. Still, I recall reading about many black players getting racially abused in India. We even had a Pakistani national player abusing a black player and we saw plenty of posters saying that it was harmless and it was due to XYZ.

The good thing with the internet era is that we will hear about such incidents more frequently, but it will help a lot in understanding that line is not just your line or your interpretations. Something can be light banter in some cultures but the same thing can be serious abuse in other cultures.

It may look like we get more incidents like this, but we do simply hear more about them. It simply makes us aware of our biases. The world is becoming a better place due to this even if it's hard to see.

 

[pillionrider]

Probably something non Australians might not understand about Australians is that dogs are the most loved pet we have. In fact a very popular saying is dogs are a mans best friend, I'm not saying it wasn't said but it sounds weird to me that calling someone a dog is derogatory. It would be like a Indian calling me a white cow, it just sounds weird. One of the most popular Australian movies recently is call Red Dog which explains how much Australians adore dogs. And to give an example I actually have a brown dog (chocolate lab) so to me I struggle to see that as an insult but I'm not saying that it is acceptable to use that term to describe anyone.

Ok, now this makes no sense and you're beginning to sound like the BCCI you've accused in earlier posts regarding the Symonds issue.

It doesn't matter how endearing your dog might be to you. If someone finds it offensive and you continue to insult them, you are doing it now with malicious intent. Whether or not they should be offended, or are they just being petty snowflakes is a separate debate altogether.

It's the same with the Symonds issue. If Harbhajan called Symonds a monkey, you could argue he didn't mean it racially. In India, there is no racial connotation with a monkey. At worst, it could mean a guy looks ugly. Racists in the western white world have associated monkeys with the black race. So now it is offensive to someone of colour in the western world to be called a monkey. Once Harbhajan and Indians became aware of the deeply offensive nature of the phrase, people in the crowd continued to taunt Symonds with monkey actions and chants. That was the despicable part as was the BCCI covering it up and playing dumb.

Just for context again, quoting my previous post.

They were basically mimicking an action that's quite commonly used in India. You flare out your elbows and scratch the sides of your belly. Usually we do it to a guy who's being a nuisance or who's got too much energy to the point of being an annoyance. Like a monkey.

Monkeys are common in India and are often found hanging on trees outside our homes, even in cities. It's fairly common for people to feed them bananas and other fruits from their balconies. We also have a monkey god Hanuman who is one of the most popular gods across the country cutting through cultural divides.

So you can see there is a dichotomy in the way we look at a monkey.

The BCCI chose to conveniently use the latter. Truth is, the guys who made that action directed at Symonds did so because they thought it would hurt him. It was deliberate with malice behind it and they were busy laughing thinking how hilarious they were.

 

[Usman]

If your issue is stopping the game for incidents happening between players and the stand, then start a new thread and discuss how the constitution of ICC should address it.

This thread is about racial abuse. Stick to it.

This thread is about the racist abuse suffered by a couple of players from the Indian team and the reaction to it. My post related directly to that and so I can't see what the issue is. As I said, the abuse is completely unacceptable. However the length in stoppage of play was ridiculous and the authorities should have been left to deal with it. I maintain that there were deliberate attempts to delay the game by the Indians before that point, which was expressly called out by the commentary team and, had India been in a position to enforce the win, the game would not have been stopped like this. I know that's hard for people to swallow but it's the truth.

As Usual pathetic post by a Pakistani.they can't win a single test from last decade but they talk about india is sacred

Oh come off it. What does Pakistan have to do with this? Nice distraction tactic - When you have nothing to say, just randomly insult Pakistan. Great stuff.

 

[sweep_shot]

Disappointing to see this stuff happening in Sydney (a very multicultural city).

Racism should not be tolerated.

 

[aloo paratha]

Not sure about the background of these Indian players but in general to become an international cricket in such a harsh environment, you need to circumvent many obstacles including poverty.

I've read some stories about how these kids travel miles, on foot and train lugging kit to train at clubs. Have to go through trials and auditions at various state levels, competing against millions, with crazy amounts of pressure to make it. This cycle is repeated year on year until finally they can move up the ranks. In a country like India they have to defy the odds to rise to the top. Statistically for a young cricketer its unlikely they will make it.

Now after all these sacrifices both personal and family, conquering difficult odds and exceptional hardwork imagine being abused simply for doing your job by members of the crowd and then having people online causing you soft lol.

Its incredible that people can think victims of racism are soft. What a strange mentality. Racism deserves to be stamped out and the perpetrators punished severely. The soft ones arent the Indian players in this case but people like you who have inferiority complex and would rather smile when abused than stand up for yourself.

Shouldn't that make you stronger? In Siraj's mind, he should know that he's accomplished more than all 4 of those guys combined, that's why he's on the field and they're in the crowd. Their words should not affect him to such a degree.

 

[Indiafan]

This thread is about the racist abuse suffered by a couple of players from the Indian team and the reaction to it. My post related directly to that and so I can't see what the issue is. As I said, the abuse is completely unacceptable. However the length in stoppage of play was ridiculous and the authorities should have been left to deal with it. I maintain that there were deliberate attempts to delay the game by the Indians before that point, which was expressly called out by the commentary team and, had India been in a position to enforce the win, the game would not have been stopped like this. I know that's hard for people to swallow but it's the truth.



Oh come off it. What does Pakistan have to do with this? Nice distraction tactic - When you have nothing to say, just randomly insult Pakistan. Great stuff.

The plauwrs were SPECIFICALLY told to not wait till the end of the day and report it during the match itself by officials. They had waited for end of day previous day

Nice try though

 

[Indiafan]

Shouldn't that make you stronger? In Siraj's mind, he should know that he's accomplished more than all 4 of those guys combined, that's why he's on the field and they're in the crowd. Their words should not affect him to such a degree.

its not about affecting him. Its about standing up for himself and indians. If racists keep escaping they keep doing it to other people

Previous generations were meek. This new generation is not going to let anyone go after being insulted

 

[Indiafan]

BTW, according to Indian players, they were called brown dog and big monkey

 

[sharmaji]

While that's true, do you think the racist abuse by those guys should be tolerated and encouraged? And is Siraj in wrong for reporting that he is being targeted for his skin colour/religion? It was probably affecting his performance.

When a batsmen can make the game to stop and ask the crowd to move away from the side screen because they are obstructing his vision and affecting his batting, why can't a fielder/bowler make the game stop for a while to ask those who are causing trouble to leave?

In a weird way it seems like you're asking the victims to grow a spine and take the abuse.

Shouldn't that make you stronger? In Siraj's mind, he should know that he's accomplished more than all 4 of those guys combined, that's why he's on the field and they're in the crowd. Their words should not affect him to such a degree.

 

[aloo paratha]

While that's true, do you think the racist abuse by those guys should be tolerated and encouraged? And is Siraj in wrong for reporting that he is being targeted for his skin colour/religion? It was probably affecting his performance.

When a batsmen can make the game to stop and ask the crowd to move away from the side screen because they are obstructing his vision and affecting his batting, why can't a fielder/bowler make the game stop for a while to ask those who are causing trouble to leave?

In a weird way it seems like you're asking the victims to grow a spine and take the abuse.

No. Racism is bad and should not be condoned. My point is that as a professional sportsmen, if you can't even take such remarks from the crowd, I don't think you have the mental strength to perform under pressure in international cricket.

Yes, I am telling the 'victim' to grow a spine. You're only a victim if you cry about it. It shouldn't even bother you, in one ear out the other.

 

[Third_Umpire]

Australia is basically a poor mans version of middle America so not surprised to see this stuff happening in 2021. Ban their team until their countrymen evolve.

 

[Local.Dada]

No. Racism is bad and should not be condoned. My point is that as a professional sportsmen, if you can't even take such remarks from the crowd, I don't think you have the mental strength to perform under pressure in international cricket.

Yes, I am telling the 'victim' to grow a spine. You're only a victim if you cry about it. It shouldn't even bother you, in one ear out the other.

I am assuming you are very tolerant to any islamiphobic comments or some stereotyping of your country comments when you face them or come your way. Good to know.

 

[pillionrider]

As I said, the abuse is completely unacceptable. However the length in stoppage of play was ridiculous and the authorities should have been left to deal with it. I maintain that there were deliberate attempts to delay the game by the Indians before that point, which was expressly called out by the commentary team and, had India been in a position to enforce the win, the game would not have been stopped like this. I know that's hard for people to swallow but it's the truth.



Oh come off it. What does Pakistan have to do with this? Nice distraction tactic - When you have nothing to say, just randomly insult Pakistan. Great stuff.

That must be one of the the silliest whinges ever posted here. The game lost 8 minutes.

8 minutes.

If Australia can't win a game cuz they lost 8 minutes of a game, no sympathy for them or the Pakistani fans like you who have nothing but a deep dislike of the Indian team driving their opinions and complaints

 

[sharmaji]

At an individual level, I agree with you that one has to become strong to ignore the haters and abuses. I always strive to do that. But at a societal level, I think it is not fair to ask everyone (even professional sportsmen) to adopt this behaviour.

Imagine asking women to put up with sexual abuse, muslims to put up with hateful comments and discrimination, black people to put up with racism etc. That would not be right, and as a society we should at least try to make it a little better for those so called "victims".

Also, think of Siraj, the dude recently went through a personal tragedy and yet is proudly representing his country after years of waiting in domestics, do you think he is not mentally strong? Calling a wrong, wrong is not weakness.

No. Racism is bad and should not be condoned. My point is that as a professional sportsmen, if you can't even take such remarks from the crowd, I don't think you have the mental strength to perform under pressure in international cricket.

Yes, I am telling the 'victim' to grow a spine. You're only a victim if you cry about it. It shouldn't even bother you, in one ear out the other.

 

[aloo paratha]

I am assuming you are very tolerant to any islamiphobic comments or some stereotyping of your country comments when you face them or come your way. Good to know.

Yeah you'd be surprised I actually don't care that much. People can have their opinions, as long as they're not harming me or any other Muslims, I don't really care what people say about us. Doesn't mean I won't rebut them, but I don't let their comments live in my head rent free.

 

[MenInG]

India pacer Mohammed Siraj was called a "Brown Dog" and "Big Monkey" in a series of racist slurs hurled by a group of Australian spectators, who were ejected from the Sydney Cricket Ground during the third Test on Sunday, a BCCI official has alleged. Siraj and his senior teammate Jasprit Bumrah were also subjected to racist slurs on Saturday, something that the Indian team management officially reported to ICC Match Referee David Boon. "Siraj was referred to as 'Brown Dog' and 'Big Monkey' both of which are racist slurs. The matter was immediately brought to the notice of on-field umpires. They were constantly abusing Bumrah too," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

On Sunday, during the 86th over of the Australian second innings, Siraj was seen walking from his position in the deep and talking to the square leg umpire before the straight umpire and other senior players joined the discussion.

Play was halted for close to 10 minutes before stadium security as well as New South Wales Police checked in to the relevant stand from where the nasty comments were being hurled at.

After speaking to the spectators in the adjoining area, the police evicted six supporters, who are currently in the custody of New South Wales Police.

It is learnt that on Saturday, the Indian team brought the matter to the notice of match officials only after the third day's play ended and by then the mischief-mongers had fled the stadium.


"Actually, the players didn't want to lose focus during the proceedings and decided that the matter would be reported only after the day's play was over. However, umpires have told us that moment anything of that nature happens, the players should report immediately," the source added.

Cricket Australia has promised strongest action against the offenders and also unreservedly apologised to the visiting team.

https://sports.ndtv.com/australia-v...ays-report-2350394?pfrom=home-ndtv_topstories

 

[Smudger]

I went to a donestic match in Faisalabad and Sarfaraz Ahmed was playing. He was continuously abused and mocked throughout the match by a whole stand and he ignored them all the time. Sportsmen should have a thick skin. Sorry to say but our World is not fair. I went to Canada for a degree and even though Canadians are generally very friendly but I still had to cope some racism.
If we (South Asians) are being completely honest. There is more racism in South Asia then anywhere in the World. If you are dark you are doomed for life. Every other person will call you kalu and other stupid words. Just look at the fairness creams that are being advertised. So honestly speaking racism complaints coming from South Asians is pretty rich. Lol at Bhajji

 

[Saurav]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We have launched an investigation in parallel with NSW Police following a crowd incident at the SCG today. Full statement <a href="https://t.co/D7Qu3SenHo">pic.twitter.com/D7Qu3SenHo</a></p>— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) <a href="https://twitter.com/CricketAus/status/1348180653003599872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Racial abuse is abuse only if it is perceived as abuse. On the other hand, if the person towards whom the abuse is directed knows he is better than the abuser, then he should just shrug and think something like "Lord, forgive them for they know not what they do". Such thinking definitely applies in this situation.

Is that the advice you would give to someone in a wheelchair who was getting ridiculed for their disability?

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I went to a donestic match in Faisalabad and Sarfaraz Ahmed was playing. He was continuously abused and mocked throughout the match by a whole stand and he ignored them all the time. Sportsmen should have a thick skin. Sorry to say but our World is not fair. I went to Canada for a degree and even though Canadians are generally very friendly but I still had to cope some racism.
If we (South Asians) are being completely honest. There is more racism in South Asia then anywhere in the World. If you are dark you are doomed for life. Every other person will call you kalu and other stupid words. Just look at the fairness creams that are being advertised. So honestly speaking racism complaints coming from South Asians is pretty rich. Lol at Bhajji

Not really sure what your point is here. If there's racism in South Asia, then that's wrong in it's own right. It doesn't excuse racism in Australia, especially considering western countries are far further along the road in dealing with multicultural societies.

 

[Slog]

Verbal abuse turns in to physical abuse many times. In Ukraine, they used to verbally abuse while crossing in street but then they will run towards us and attack from the back. I guess you are lucky you haven't been subjected to this or been to hospital but many are. So it is not just about mental strength.

Huh what?

 

[Smudger]

Not really sure what your point is here. If there's racism in South Asia, then that's wrong in it's own right. It doesn't excuse racism in Australia, especially considering western countries are far further along the road in dealing with multicultural societies.

My only point here is Siraj should have ignored him. Sportsmen should be deaf to what the crowd says

 

[sshakir411]

Aww they must be the only players to have ever gone through this in Australia. Let’s not forget the Indian team of the pst calling Symonds a monkey. Cry babies!

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

For those who were saying Indians did this to waste time(From the above article) :
Actually, the players didn't want to lose focus during the proceedings and decided that the matter would be reported only after the day's play was over. However, umpires have told us that moment anything of that nature happens, the players should report immediately," the source added.

 

[Slog]

BTW, according to Indian players, they were called brown dog and big monkey

I’m sure worse has been said to Indian players in the past. Earlier they would just move on. In that context these are much milder terms. Also to people saying Indians did this delay and ‘drama’ since they were losing the match then I can just laugh at those guys. They speaking as if india has never lost in Australia before lol.

I don’t know where I stand on it personally. I don’t like giving attention to such clowns which this did.

 

[leg-side-flick]

Is there really a need to stop the game for 5+ minutes because some random guys said something you don't like? Ridiculous. I don't defend racism, but people need to understand that there will always be bad in the world, you need to be able to have skin thick enough to where most of the benign stuff like this should not affect you. What happened to 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words shall never hurt me"?

I said the same when Archer complained over a year ago about a similar thing. If you can't even take some words from a random guy in the crowd, I'm afraid you won't be able to perform much under pressure, and on tough tours.

I wish you had a chat with Inzaman before he fought with a spectator in Canada...

Surprisingly, it didn't affect his performance in pressure situations

 

[ahmedzee]

Absolutely disgusted by this incident. Racism has no place in this world. I hope this is rightfully taken care of.

 

[Ab Fan]

Disgraceful and shameful behaviour from the crowds. They should be punished severely for this act.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

My only point here is Siraj should have ignored him. Sportsmen should be deaf to what the crowd says

I think 10 or 15 years ago that would have been right. But in this day and age, why should it be tolerated? Even if a sportsman ignores it while the game is going on, there's no reason why it shouldn't be reported afterwards. Unless you think different sports should have different tolerance levels for racism.

 

[El Generico]

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 187.778%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/ewnzbu" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>

A lot of posters here owe Siraj and Bumrah an apology. Number of posters tried to imply that they were making it up.

 

[El Generico]

I’m sure worse has been said to Indian players in the past. Earlier they would just move on. In that context these are much milder terms. Also to people saying Indians did this delay and ‘drama’ since they were losing the match then I can just laugh at those guys. They speaking as if india has never lost in Australia before lol.

I don’t know where I stand on it personally. I don’t like giving attention to such clowns which this did.

Why so they can be emboldened and repeat their behaviour? Good on the Indian players for calling this out. Hopefully life bans are handed out.

 

[The Viper]

'Absolute urgency': Kohli urges action on racial abuse allegations

India have called on authorities to use "an iron fist" in dealing with claims that fast bowler Mohammed Siraj was racially abused at the SCG as Cricket Australia and NSW Police launched investigations into fresh allegations on Sunday night.

Less than 24 hours after the Indians reported that Siraj and fellow seamer Jasprit Bumrah had been the targets of racial slurs from drunk spectators on day three of the third Test, play stopped before tea on Sunday after Siraj reported more abuse to umpires Paul Wilson and Paul Reiffel.

Police escorted six spectators from their seats while Getty Images also photographed another man from the same row of seats leaving quickly up the stairwell when Siraj approached the umpires.

India have complained the comments from the crowd were of a racial nature and abuse of players had "been a continual thing at Sydney".

"They have been quite nasty and hurling abuse," spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin said. "There is a time where they have gone one step ahead and used racial abuses.

"It is definitely not acceptable in this day and age. We’ve evolved as a society and … this must be dealt with an iron fist and make sure it doesn’t happen again."

On his fourth Test tour of Australia, Ashwin said he had "personally experienced it as well".

"I take myself back to my first tour in 2011-12, I had no clue about racial abuse and how you can be made to feel small in front of so many people. And the people actually laugh at you when you get abused," he said.

"They do tend to get nasty, I don't know for what reason. Until it is dealt with people don't find it necessary to look at it in a different way. I was quite surprised that some sections of the crowd continually did it and there were not mates around them to pull them up."

Prominent Indian sports journalist Boria Majumdar reported Siraj was called a "brown dog" on Sunday.

Absent India captain Virat Kohli tweeted on Sunday night: "Racial abuse is absolutely unacceptable. Having gone through many incidents of really pathetic things said on the boundary lines, this is the absolute peak of rowdy behaviour. It's sad to see this happen on the field.

"The incident needs to be looked at with absolute urgency and seriousness and strict action against the offenders should set things straight for once."

Australia captain Tim Paine, who was batting with all-rounder Cameron Green at the time, had joined the Indians where they were assembled at the middle of the ground, with Siraj pointing towards the alleged culprits in the lower tier of the Clive Churchill and Brewongle Stands.

The men escorted by police had been seated in the same area of the grandstand from which Siraj and Bumrah reported the abuse had come on Saturday.

Spectator Rishi Aryan, who was seated in the same bay, told the Herald and The Age on Sunday: “All these boys were doing is a bit of sledging of the player on the outfield. First it was Bumrah then they had a sledge against Siraj. They kept calling him Shiraz and all that crap. Next thing you know they said: ‘Welcome to Sydney, Siraj’ and then he got the *****. That was literally it. Then he walked off.

“I don’t know why [the police kicked the men out]. Next thing you know you see police everywhere. It didn’t make sense. It was confusing.”

Another spectator with his family believed there was nothing racist said. He also corroborated Mr Aryan’s statement that the phrase "Welcome to Sydney, Siraj" was used.

A source with knowledge of investigations of the weekend incidents said crowd members in that section had been singing the song Que Sera, Sera using Siraj's name.

Australia coach Justin Langer on Sunday night slammed the abuse of players from the crowd as "upsetting and disappointing" . "Anyone who knows me, I’ve said for years it’s just one of my greatest pet hates in life that people think they can come to a sporting event, whether it’s cricket or any code, and pay their money and think they can abuse or say whatever they like," he said.

"We’ve seen it in different parts of the world and it’s really sad to see it happen in Australia. I think our series so far has been played in such great spirits. It’s a shame to see it getting marred by incidents like we’re hearing about today and last night".

Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack said on Sunday: "If racist remarks have been made, then the appropriate action has taken place.

"There is no place for racism in Australia. We are a tolerant country and the most successful multicultural nation in the world. Australia’s performance in this Test so far has been very solid – the team won’t be distracted by this as it pushes on to victory.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said if reports of racial abuse were correct "those comments should be utterly condemned".

"They are un-Australian and don’t represent who we are," she said.

CA head of integrity and security said the Indian team's allegations would be "investigated to their fullest extent".

“The abuse of cricketers by crowd members is not acceptable,” Carroll said. “We thank the Indian team for their vigilance in reporting today’s incident, which we are now in the process of investigating.

“A number of spectators were interviewed by NSW Police and subsequently removed from the SCG on Sunday afternoon. While we await the outcome of the investigation by NSW Police, CA has launched its own inquiry into the matter."

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricke...buse-of-indian-cricketer-20210110-p56t0q.html

 

[Junaids]

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A lot of posters here owe Siraj and Bumrah an apology. Number of posters tried to imply that they were making it up.

Where is the racial abuse?

I just hear a guy being heckled by a hone crowd, and that’s normal.

 

[Saj]

Spectator Rishi Aryan, who was seated in the same bay, told the Herald and The Age on Sunday: “All these boys were doing is a bit of sledging of the player on the outfield. First it was Bumrah then they had a sledge against Siraj. They kept calling him Shiraz and all that crap. Next thing you know they said: ‘Welcome to Sydney, Siraj’ and then he got the *****. That was literally it. Then he walked off.

“I don’t know why [the police kicked the men out]. Next thing you know you see police everywhere. It didn’t make sense. It was confusing.”

Another spectator with his family believed there was nothing racist said. He also corroborated Mr Aryan’s statement that the phrase "Welcome to Sydney, Siraj" was used.

A source with knowledge of investigations of the weekend incidents said crowd members in that section had been singing the song Que Sera, Sera using Siraj's name.

This is concerning.

Did the players misunderstand what was being said to them?

 

[Napa]

Is that the advice you would give to someone in a wheelchair who was getting ridiculed for their disability?

If I was in a wheelchair and someone ridiculed me... the only thing proven would be the person ridiculing me was an idiot. Whether I wouldn't feel offended, but if someone else in a wheelchair was offended that's their choice.

 

[El Generico]

Where is the racial abuse?

I just hear a guy being heckled by a hone crowd, and that’s normal.

At the 8 second mark, you can hear someone call him a “brown dog”. That’s not racial abuse?

 

[El Generico]

This is concerning.

Did the players misunderstand what was being said to them?

Majority of the crowd was just messing around with his name but from the video it seems like a couple did say “brown dog”. I think that’s what the players complained about.

 

[Junaids]

At the 8 second mark, you can hear someone call him a “brown dog”. That’s not racial abuse?

You must have better hearing than I do - I absolutely can't hear that in audio recorded from one row away, and Siraj was 6 times further away.

As [MENTION=9]Saj[/MENTION] observed, the evidence is that this was just normal (non-racial) heckling. On the basis of this video, I think India owes the spectators an apology because they have been thrown out for doing nothing wrong.

Drunkenly singing "Que Sera Siraj" is not unacceptable behaviour. It's actually totally normal behaviour at any SENA cricket ground.

 

[Junaids]

I think India are now under the microscope.

They have made extraordinary accusations, and both witnesses and recordings prove that India's accusations are complete nonsense. Good grief, that's the way I behave when I go to the cricket - I heckled Smith and Warner at both Old Trafford and Edgbaston in 2019!

I think the Indian players are unaccustomed to the Pantomime nature of heckling at a cricket ground, and are imagining a racial dimension which does not exist.

We already know that NSW Police found no evidence on which to lay charges. And now Cricket Australia and NSW Police are trying to run down the clock until the match is over in the hope that India won't have to be exposed until after the match is over, because they know they are going to be angry and upset.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

If I was in a wheelchair and someone ridiculed me... the only thing proven would be the person ridiculing me was an idiot. Whether I wouldn't feel offended, but if someone else in a wheelchair was offended that's their choice.

Good for you, but this isn't about individual sensibilities, but about sports administration's responsibility to ensure racism is not encouraged in the game, in this case the ICC can't be complacent or seen to be turning a blind eye. The Indian cricketers in this case have done the game a service by reporting the incidents.

 

[Junaids]

Firstly, there is no place for racism in the game, and it should be punished heavily.

Secondly, I think we are at a very delicate point now. The Indians have clearly been heckled, which is only unacceptable if there is homophobic or racist content - and there is no evidence that there is.

All the evidence is that this is much more like the heckling that English spectators gave to Mitchell Johnson or that Australian supporters gave to Stuart Broad.

The younger Indian players clearly think there have been racial slurs, but the video evidence and the testimony of an Indian eyewitness suggests that they have misunderstood the heckling that they received, and have made incorrect accusations of racial sledging. Just like [MENTION=9]Saj[/MENTION] wrote, the problem seems to be poor understanding of English leading to assumptions of non-existent racial abuse.

Unfortunately the BCCI has behaved disgracefully, condemning behaviour before it was actually confirmed, and they have inflamed the situation.

And so now Cricket Australia is presiding over a diplomatic incident, making vague condemnations of racism to buy time for this match to end before the media works out that the NSW Police has not charged anyone with any racial offences.

And the NSW Police can't charge anyone if there is no evidence.

 

[mohan11]

Shameful from Australians. Should be punished severely.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Imagine paying 100$ to get kicked out just for calling a player by his name, and on top of that the accusations of being racist. There’s no way the 6 men would get away with racism when there’s people seated around them. There was no racism.

 

[Slog]

You must have better hearing than I do - I absolutely can't hear that in audio recorded from one row away, and Siraj was 6 times further away.

As [MENTION=9]Saj[/MENTION] observed, the evidence is that this was just normal (non-racial) heckling. On the basis of this video, I think India owes the spectators an apology because they have been thrown out for doing nothing wrong.

Drunkenly singing "Que Sera Siraj" is not unacceptable behaviour. It's actually totally normal behaviour at any SENA cricket ground.

If you can’t hear ‘brown dog’ then you need to get your hearing checked. May be age catching up. Just because you can’t hear it (or choose not to) doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

The only debate here is whether the term ‘brown dog’ is racist? What do you think? It’s definitely racial in tone but imo not the worst thing ever said either.

 

[Gilly]

Ok, now this makes no sense and you're beginning to sound like the BCCI you've accused in earlier posts regarding the Symonds issue.

It doesn't matter how endearing your dog might be to you. If someone finds it offensive and you continue to insult them, you are doing it now with malicious intent. Whether or not they should be offended, or are they just being petty snowflakes is a separate debate altogether.

It's the same with the Symonds issue. If Harbhajan called Symonds a monkey, you could argue he didn't mean it racially. In India, there is no racial connotation with a monkey. At worst, it could mean a guy looks ugly. Racists in the western white world have associated monkeys with the black race. So now it is offensive to someone of colour in the western world to be called a monkey. Once Harbhajan and Indians became aware of the deeply offensive nature of the phrase, people in the crowd continued to taunt Symonds with monkey actions and chants. That was the despicable part as was the BCCI covering it up and playing dumb.

Just for context again, quoting my previous post.

You didn't read all of my post. If you read it properly you will see that I have stated that it is not acceptable to call anyone a brown dog.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Imagine paying 100$ to get kicked out just for calling a player by his name, and on top of that the accusations of being racist. There’s no way the 6 men would get away with racism when there’s people seated around them. There was no racism.

Why wouldn't they get away with racism with people sitting around them? Racism occurs in many sports settings in large crowds.

 

[Balthazar]

Well, it's good that today's generation of Indian players are not tolerating this nonsense. Expose these matters. I would have liked if they plastered their photos all over the media and internet and call their employers.

 

[Usman]

The plauwrs were SPECIFICALLY told to not wait till the end of the day and report it during the match itself by officials. They had waited for end of day previous day

Nice try though

Tea was just around the corner. Nobody asked the players to wait all day. Look, it's fine, Siraj stopped the play as he was entitled to do so. My point, which sorry but is undeniable, is that this stoppage wouldn't have happened if India was in the dominating position.

That must be one of the the silliest whinges ever posted here. The game lost 8 minutes.

8 minutes.

If Australia can't win a game cuz they lost 8 minutes of a game, no sympathy for them or the Pakistani fans like you who have nothing but a deep dislike of the Indian team driving their opinions and complaints

I think it was a little longer than 8 minutes but regardless, the point is a simple one. That passage of play where Green was tonking every bowler for 6 could turn out to be critical in this game. Had play continued, Australia could have gained another roughly 20-40 runs which could be the difference between a win or a loss in the end.

I have nothing against Team India on a personal level but there's no denying the tactics employed by them are often below the belt. From delaying tactics (which was going on well before that stoppage in play - you can't deny that even if you maintain the Siraj incident was unrelated) to running scared from the Gabba and coming up with every excuse in the book to justify it.

'Oh if we go to the Gabba, we might have to isolate when we get to India which would scupper the prep for the England tour'. Given that there are currently no such isolation requirements in place from the Indian governemnt, Team India really is taking excuse making to the absolute extreme. I wonder how many other hypothetical scenarios will be made up by Team India between now and the date of the Gabba test. What's next? The number of Kangaros in Brisbane make it too dangerous? Brisbane Kwala bears are too scary? Seriously, grow a pair!

 

[King_Kohli]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Racial abuse is absolutely unacceptable. Having gone through many incidents of really pathetic things said on the boundary Iines, this is the absolute peak of rowdy behaviour. It's sad to see this happen on the field.</p>— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) <a href="https://twitter.com/imVkohli/status/1348204428067672065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[King_Kohli]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The incident needs to be looked at with absolute urgency and seriousness and strict action against the offenders should set things straight for once.</p>— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) <a href="https://twitter.com/imVkohli/status/1348204430038994944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Gilly]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The incident needs to be looked at with absolute urgency and seriousness and strict action against the offenders should set things straight for once.</p>— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) <a href="https://twitter.com/imVkohli/status/1348204430038994944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Indian supports seated next to the men have told the police that there were no racist remarks.

Australia vs. India: Police satisfied ejected spectators didn't racially abuse Mohammed Siraj
Police won't be pursuing charges against the men ejected from the SCG for allegedly abusing Indian bowler Mohammed Siraj on day four of the third Test
https://www.sportingnews.com/au/cri...siraj-justin-langer/a8rsb334f9xh1a1oo6vtn9myv

 

[pillionrider]

Indian supports seated next to the men have told the police that there were no racist remarks.

Did you hear the video?

That paper, wasn't it The Herald or something quoting an Indian guy is like the racist white guy who says, "but I have a black friend at work."

 

[Gilly]

Did you hear the video?

That paper, wasn't it The Herald or something quoting an Indian guy is like the racist white guy who says, "but I have a black friend at work."

So because the indian supporters sitting next to the men told the police that they didnt hear any racist slurs that makes me the racist white guy who says, "but I have a black friend at work."

Yeah OK.

 

[pillionrider]

So because the indian supporters sitting next to the men told the police that they didnt hear any racist slurs that makes me the racist white guy who says, "but I have a black friend at work."

Yeah OK.

The paper...

 

[Gilly]

The paper...

The paper just quoted what the police said who just quoted what the Indian fans said. Why do you find it so hard to accept that these men did not racially abuse anyone. There are no racist white guys here, not the paper, not the police, not the supporters. Just stop with the race card,

 

[pillionrider]

The paper just quoted what the police said who just quoted what the Indian fans said. Why do you find it so hard to accept that these men did not racially abuse anyone. There are no racist white guys here, not the paper, not the police, not the supporters. Just stop with the race card,

I don't know if you're tense about this game or something and are therefore jumping all over the place from point to point.

My views on these incidents right from the first ones are very clearly placed early on in this thread.

Regarding race card lol. I live in India and have no intention of moving out of here. I don't care enough personally to pull out some alleged race card

 

[ahmedzee]

In the video shown I don’t see any evidence of racial abuse. However it is not necessary that racial abuse could be caught on tape. Once again, as mentioned before, there is no room for racism in anything (sports or otherwise). I hope this matter is taken care of by the authorities. I feel for Sairaj and Bhumrah as racial abuse leaves a dent in one’s psyche.

 

[MenInG]

Brown dog in Hindi/Urdu is not something that we would say - cultural issue here?

 

[Indiafan]

Indian supports seated next to the men have told the police that there were no racist remarks.

Thats on Day 4. Day 3 racial abuse has been confirmed

 

[Indiafan]

Tea was just around the corner. Nobody asked the players to wait all day. Look, it's fine, Siraj stopped the play as he was entitled to do so. My point, which sorry but is undeniable, is that this stoppage wouldn't have happened if India was in the dominating position.

!

Once again the umpire's specifically told them to report IMMEDIATELY, not wait till break

One of the biggest reason the subcontinent was conquered by the British is because we had a lot of people who had zero self respect. We were divided and conquered especially because of people like you

Growing a pair is fighting up and standing up against abuse, not being a coward who has no self respect

 

[Gilly]

Just on ABC news, a Indian supporter who was sitting just in front of the accused men, when questioned by the police and told them that there was no racial abuse, he was then told to leave the ground.

 

[MenInG]

Former Test spinner Kerry O’Keeffe has spoken out against Australia’s obsession with sledging following Sunday’s “unsavoury” incident at the SCG.

On day four of the New Year’s Test between Australian and India, play was halted after pace bowler Mohammed Siraj called attention to a group of spectators in the Brewongle Stand.

Six patrons were subsequently removed from the stadium, and Cricket Australia confirmed NSW Police was investigating the incident.

The ordeal comes after India lodged a complaint to match official David Boon after two players allegedly faced racial abuse from the SCG crowd on Saturday.

Watch Australia v India Test Series Live & Ad-Break Free During Play with the Fox Cricket commentary team. New to Kayo? Get your free trial now & start streaming instantly >

Speaking to reporters, Indian spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin claimed he has been subjected to abuse from Australian crowds for almost a decade.

“This is my fourth tour to Australia, and … we’ve had a few experiences in the past,” Ashwin said on Sunday evening.

“If I take myself back to my first tour in 2011/12, I had no clue about what racial abuse is and how you can be made to feel small in front of so many people.

“And people actually laugh at you when you get abused, and other people laugh along when these things are happening.

“When I stood at the boundary line, you wanted to stand another 10 yards in to keep yourself away from these things.”

Speaking on Fox Sports News, O’Keeffe — who was an iconic cricket commentator for the ABC before becoming a hugely popular member of Fox Cricket’s commentary team — labelled sledging the “most overrated aspect of Australian sport”, passionately calling for the abuse to end.

“It was unsavoury yesterday,” O’Keeffe said on Monday morning.

“When you come to Test cricket, you come to watch the best of one nation play the best of the other nation. It’s elite sport. It’s entertainment. It’s not stand-up comedy, where you feel you have the right to heckle the entertainer.

“Sledging is the most overrated aspect of Australian sport. Young fathers bring their children to the game; it’s a cyclical thing. If they see anti-social behaviour in the stands, they feel that is the way to conduct themselves. It’s wrong.

“I’ve been involved in the game for over 60 years. I have never seen a more overrated aspect of cricket than sledging. As a nation, we are absolutely consumed with it.

“I played 24 Tests for Australia. One of the very first questions I get from people is, ‘What’s the best sledge you’ve ever heard?’ Twenty-four Tests as a proud Australian cricketer, and they want to know the best sledge. Grow up.

“When guys get together at a cricket match, it’s game of one-upmanship in the stands — who can come up with the most stinging one-liner? It’s boorish, and you’ve crossed a line, and may have been crossed yesterday.

“Ninety-five per cent of sledging is unfunny. A huge percentage of it is personal abuse dressed up. Get over it.

“We are more mature than that. We are better than that, and we’ve got to start now.

“The standard of the cricket during this series has been stunningly good. These are two high-class teams, and it’s just the biggest shame that something in the stands is threatening to spoil it

“It’s what happens out in the middle of Test cricket that should be the yardstick for the game, and sadly with this incident yesterday, it’s been taken away.”

https://coupler.foxsports.com.au/ap...0fbc5d91d76ba1b129a?__twitter_impression=true

 

[MenInG]

Wondering what the crowd in India says to foreign players? Not sure if anyone understands as its not English but surely some very OTT reactions about Australians here.

 

[Romali_rotti]

Wondering what the crowd in India says to foreign players? Not sure if anyone understands as its not English but surely some very OTT reactions about Australians here.

Monkey gestures at Andrew Symonds...

 

[Birdman]

Wondering what the crowd in India says to foreign players? Not sure if anyone understands as its not English but surely some very OTT reactions about Australians here.

Funny thing with Indians in India is we say all kinds of racist and misogynist without even realizing it. It;s very common to call a dark skinned person "darkie" or a over weight person "fattie" or even address a disabled person by their disability.
It's the Indians who are living abroad who make a big deal out of these racist incidents, as they should.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Wondering what the crowd in India says to foreign players? Not sure if anyone understands as its not English but surely some very OTT reactions about Australians here.

I was watching Shane Watson's 25 questions interview and he was asked at which ground outside of Australia does he enjoy fielding at the boundary.

His answer - "anywhere in the Subcontinent....because you dont get heckled and the people are nice".

 

[hitthestump]

Wondering what the crowd in India says to foreign players? Not sure if anyone understands as its not English but surely some very OTT reactions about Australians here.

During Pakistan's tours in the 2000's British Pakistani fans were absolutely disgraceful towards any English players fielding within earshot.

There's bad in every country.

 

[Dingolfy]

The paper just quoted what the police said who just quoted what the Indian fans said. Why do you find it so hard to accept that these men did not racially abuse anyone. There are no racist white guys here, not the paper, not the police, not the supporters. Just stop with the race card,

As someone living in Sydney, I can vouch for racist white people. But not sure how many of them were in SCG though.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Why wouldn't they get away with racism with people sitting around them? Racism occurs in many sports settings in large crowds.

If you’re referring to football then that’s completely different.

In football, fans from both teams are separated, in cricket they’re not. Fans from your side of the team won’t stop you from abusing the opposition, they’ll laugh along.

If you look at the video, you can clearly see Indians seated around the 6 Aus fans. If Siraj and Bumrah could hear the racist comments then the Indians seated around them would’ve heard it too and would’ve reported it to security, did that happen? No.

 

[shamaan]

During Pakistan's tours in the 2000's British Pakistani fans were absolutely disgraceful towards any English players fielding within earshot.

There's bad in every country.

Any examples

 

[The Viper]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Spoke with a former Pakistan cricketer who toured Australia a few times. He said "If we had complained and stopped play every time we were racially abused by Australian crowds, there would have only been around 40 overs of play every day" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1348692122053062657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[chuck]

It's absolutely disgusting to racially abuse someone like Siraj who is playing his second game, has just lost his father and couldn't even attend his funeral. He is out there to perform and play for his country despite such a tragic loss. No issues in judging him for his performance but society has touched it's lowest point here.

 

[Junaids]

Just to be clear:

1. No evidence of racial abuse on any day has been found.

2. Eyewitnesses confirm that there was (legal) heckling but no racial slurs.

3. The Police have confirmed that they have no evidence to charge anyone with any racial offences.

4. The only complaints come from the Indian players and their Board, and have not been substantiated or confirmed by Cricket Australia, NSW Police or any other competent authority.

5. I have yet to find anyone who is not Indian who thinks they hear “black dog” in the video. I’m told that it is an insult Indians use, but there is no documented history of it ever being used in Australia as a racial slur.

 

[El Generico]

Just to be clear:



5. I have yet to find anyone who is not Indian who thinks they hear “black dog” in the video. I’m told that it is an insult Indians use, but there is no documented history of it ever being used in Australia as a racial slur.

I am not an Indian and I am pretty sure I heard “brown dog” in that video. If you go on social media most people who watched that video also heard the slur.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Racism is not just a sporting matter, it is a matter for all Australians

Why does sport have such a problem with racism?

It's a question we hear all the time, but it's the wrong one.

It happens in sport because sport is part of who we are.

Sport is not separate to the schools we go to, the workplaces we are employed by or the suburbs we live in.

We often hear about sport being in the "DNA of the country".

Racism happens in Australian sport because there is racism in Australia.

If you ask "does Australian cricket have a racism problem?", the answer is yes, as do many Australian sports, as does Australia.

We hear about it in sport most frequently because sport is public — it's played in the open, with a live audience, and at the level of a Test match between Australia and India it is broadcast around the nation and the globe with oodles of column space dedicated to it in our newspapers and online sites.

If our school playgrounds, backyard barbecues and office meetings were this public, we wouldn't need to ask "why does racism always happen in sport?"

Alleged abuse at SCG not an isolated incident

The latest racist incidents involve alleged abuse hurled from the crowd at the Sydney Test over several days. On Sunday, spectators were ejected from the crowd after Indian bowler Mohammed Siraj complained to the umpire about their behaviour.

To deal with racism, white people like me, in a largely white country like Australia, need to listen as others tell of their experience and what they hear when we say things "we didn't mean" or that was meant as "a joke".

Those types of jokes are not funny and claiming ignorance is no longer acceptable. Just ask Eddie McGuire, the outgoing president of Collingwood.

He learned that suggesting one of the AFL's greatest players, Adam Goodes, who is Indigenous, play King Kong in a movie promotion was no longer something Australians viewed as a joke.

Except McGuire is still president of Collingwood and Goodes no longer has anything to do with the game.

Collingwood conducted a review into racism and the culture of the club because of the well-documented experiences of former player Heritier Lumumba.

That review was delivered to the club board last year but has still not been made public — although it is believed that was one of the provisos for conducting the review.

Let me suggest some other names you might like to Google: Joel Wilkinson, Eddie Betts, Nicky Winmar (AFL players), Mel Jones, Lisa Sthalekar and Usman Khawaja (Australian cricketers), Marcia Ella-Duncan, Beryl Friday, Jemma Mi Mi, and Helena Saunders-Higgins (netballers). I could go on and on.

It is not a white person's place to decide what is racist and what isn't

Of course, just as cricket isn't the only sport with a problem, sport isn't the only industry with a problem. And Australia is far from alone.

I mentioned in an interview I did with Indian TV channel NDTV last night that every country has issues with racism.

But as Australians, we don't need to compare ourselves to the lowest common denominator, or any common denominator for that matter. As Australians, we should want to uphold the highest standards as a benchmark for others to aspire to.

And there are those inside sport's governing bodies looking to make genuine change. It is hard.

It is particularly hard when all of those making the decisions about what to do and when to do it are white because, to be blunt, what would they know?

Taking advice from a side committee is not the same as taking advice from those in the most senior positions of influence who get to determine the agenda.

In sport, as in work, as in school, as in politics, those in power are white as the rule.

While racism remains just a side issue — one we'd rather would just go away than actually try to fix — it will remain.

In a predominantly white society, with a domination of white voices setting the daily news agenda, it is not a white person's place to decide what is racist and what isn't.

What is and isn't racist is not a decision for the perpetrators
While we wait for the investigation into what happened at the SCG Test and the alleged racist comments, one thing is clear — deciding what is and isn't racist is not a decision for the perpetrators but one for those who are on the receiving end.

We've seen this in the response to the SCG story — some in the media have rushed to excuse the actions, or to explain them away, others to downplay it.

No doubt some cricket fans are doing the same.

If a number of other visiting players say they heard racist comments too, and the visiting officials confirm the reports are genuine and of a serious nature, why is our first default position to doubt them?

I don't have the answer to that question, but I could suggest one.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-12/racism-is-not-just-a-sporting-matter/13048224

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Calling someone Curry Muncher, Is not just a Slur. Its racist.
I remember going to Boxing day first day in 2018. India batted first. I was sitting just 4 rows behind, enjoying the match.
Then a group of Idiots, came in a sat in front of me. The more Indians were batting well, the more they were growing restless. By the Second session, Kohli and Pujara were batting well, and Australia was going to lose the series. I could see the anger in these guys.. getting restless. How do they respond,
by Starting Chanting "Show us your Visas". "You are illegal".
I moved away, and went to police and reported them. Some other members there also did the same.
Those guys were duly kicked out.
Apart from that incident, I never had any bad experience here for past 6 years in Australia till now. I found Australians to be having a good sense of humour and very friendly people.
But, unfortunately there are few idiots everywhere and every country in the world.