Luther Burrell, who won 15 caps for England, claimed racist “banter” has become “normalised” among team-mates and that racism was “rife” in the sport; an eight-month investigation was launched after Burrell saw an alleged racist message in a WhatsApp group involving Premiership players
Last Updated: 04/04/23 11:52pm
Luther Burrell joined Newcastle Falcons in 2020 but left in June, shortly after detailing his experiences of racism
An independent investigation has found that Luther Burrell was the victim of racial abuse during his time at Newcastle but the Rugby Football Union has ruled out taking disciplinary action.
An eight-month investigation was launched after the former England international claimed he saw an alleged racist message in a WhatsApp group involving Premiership players.
Burrell, who is of Jamaican descent, claimed racist “banter” had become “normalised” among team-mates, that racism was “rife” in the sport and said he was subjected to comments about slavery, bananas and fried chicken.
Amongst the evidence gathered was a post on a players’ WhatsApp group that contained a “wholly inappropriate racist term”.
The RFU spoke to 93 current and former employees, including players and coaching staff, present at Newcastle Falcons – Burrell’s most recent club – between 2000-2022 and concluded on the “balance of probabilities” the allegations in Burrell’s original interview with the Mail on Sunday were “true, but there is insufficient evidence to say whether these claims occurred at the club, [apart from] a WhatApp message that contained a racist comment.”
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Former England rugby player Luther Burrell says he wants to influence the next generation of players to speak out against racism
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