Essex cricket sponsor pulls plug as racism row continues

As cricket's racism scandal continues Essex have lost one of their main sponsors after a third player made allegations of racial abuse during his four years at the county.

In an interview with The Cricketer magazine Jahid Ahmed gave details of how he was made to feel like an outsider by teammates and coaching staff making him dread going into the club.

Ahmed's allegations have now prompted one of the club's principal sponsors, training company Seetec, to suspend their links to Essex.

“We have suspended our ties with Essex County Cricket Club with immediate effect,” said a company spokesman.

“Through the services we deliver, our employee owners work with diverse communities to help people realise their life ambitions. This is part of our wider commitment to social inclusion as it is important to us that the communities we serve have equal access to opportunity. Any form of racism should not be tolerated.”

Ahmed is the third former Essex player to come forward with allegations of racist abuse, following similar claims by Zoheb Sharif and Maurice Chambers.

Essex Cricket are now preparing to begin an independent investigation into the recent historic allegations of racism involving the Club.