While India’s series against Australia Down Under has witnessed a series of racial abuses from fans on the players, there are now reports of fans being subject to racial profiling as well. The SCG officials are investigating the issue, after the case of racial abuse of an Indian origin fan has come to the limelight. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, a fan, identified as Krishna Kumar, has accused the security staff at the stadium of ‘racial profiling’ and ‘unjustified frisking’.
The incident seems to have occurred when the fan was trying to carry four banners on Day 5 of the Sydney Test that read, “Rivalry is good, racism is not”, “No racism mate”, “Brown inclusion matters” and “Cricket Australia more diversity please”. The Indian fan elaborated, “He told me, ‘If you need to address this matter, go back to where you belong. It was a very small banner. I made it out of my kids’ paper roll.”
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Kumar also said that the security official then asked his junior guards to give him ‘a complete frisking when he gets back”. He recalled, “To me this a pure case of profiling. I’m not looking for compensation, I’m not looking for free tickets, I’m not looking for a membership. I want justice. I want accountability. I was feeling stripped, feeling watched and I went there to fight racism.”
The Indian fan further explained, “Forget whoever you’re supporting. I thought it was important as a cricket fan and as a responsible citizen to basically stand up against racism. My wife is Australian, my boys are Australian, my friends are all Australians. I’ve been to the MCG, I’ve been to the T20 Women’s World Cup. I’ve never been abused or racially attacked.”
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Venues NSW has issued a statement in which they accepted that they are aware of the incident and have met the complainant. A spokesperson said, “We are investigating the complainant’s allegations and we’ll make no further comment until our investigation is complete.”
