The former England rugby union player Luther Burrell has alleged that he was effectively forced to retire from the game after he spoke out about racist abuse he suffered from teammates.
Burrell (37) first alleged that he had been the victim of racism while playing for the then Newcastle Falcons, now Newcastle Red Bulls, in 2022. Among the allegations he made at the time, Burrell claimed that a teammate at Newcastle had referred to him as a “slave” and told him to apply sunscreen to his wrists and ankles as that’s “where your shackles were”.
Speaking on Monday to the BBC, Burrell said that the investigation that began after he made the claims caused his opportunities to dry up and that despite wanting to keep playing he has been unable to find a contract at a professional club for the past three years.
“I have absolutely had to retire because of what’s gone on,” Burrell said. “I wanted to carry on playing, I pursued and it fell through when word came out that there were investigations going on, so that was difficult and I had to just accept the fate and that this whole process is bigger than me.”
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Burrell, who played as a centre, left Newcastle at the end of the 2021-22 season, after which he made his experiences public. A subsequent investigation by the Rugby Football Union found that “on the balance of probability” Burrell’s claims were likely true but that they could not definitively prove that most of the abuse happened at the north-east club.
Newcastle later said that the only proven incidents during his time at the club, which involved racist messages in a players WhatsApp group and incidents on an away day and a night out, were “gravely concerning” and “incredibly disappointing”, but that they were unable to take disciplinary action against individuals due to “no further actionable evidence” such as names or dates being provided.
Burrell said that much of the racism he experienced was “something that’s dressed up as banter” and that he had also experienced “several traumatic experiences” while playing for the England national team, for whom he made 15 appearances between 2014 and 2016. Burrell also said that there were “undertones of discrimination” throughout English rugby. - Guardian
