Cricket Australia backed an international crackdown on racism on Tuesday but said the term ”pom” could still be used against the English.
Cricket Australia (CA) spokesperson Peter Young said his organisation fully supported International Cricket Council (ICC) recommendations made on Monday after South Africa players alleged they were racially abused on a tour Down Under last December and January.
But Young told the Australian Associated Press that CA had received advice from Australia’s Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission that calling the English ”poms” was still permissible.
Young said the commission’s advice, based on a 1997 discrimination ruling, was that ”pom was not hurtful when used in isolation, although using the word with others could be deemed racist, offensive or humiliating”.
He refused to speculate on whether Australian fans who combined the term ”pom” with offensive words to taunt English fans during the upcoming Ashes series could face eviction and bans from cricket grounds.
”That’s a hypothetical,” he said. — AFP
