Essex cricket chair steps down as club launches probe into ‘Zionist lobby’ tweets

The new chairman of Essex County Cricket Club has stepped down ahead of an independent review into his social media posts, including one that compared Israel to Nazi Germany.

The Jewish Chronicle reported on Thursday that Azeem Akhtar, who was named the cricket club’s new chair only three days ago, had endorsed slurs on social media, including accusations that the “Zionist lobby” has “oversized” control of the media.

The newspaper wrote: “A tweet posted on May 23 2021 and liked by Mr Akhtar declared: “It is not offensive to say that the Pro–Israel and Zionist lobby have deep pockets and oversized influence/control over the media… The cricket boss also liked a tweet posted in May that claimed: “Comparing Israel with Nazis is not antisemitic. In fact, many Jewish people have done so themselves.”

On Thursday evening the club announced Akhtar is to “voluntarily” step aside while an investigation takes place.

The statement reads: “Essex County Cricket Club supports Azeem Akhtar’s personal decision to voluntarily step aside as Chair of the Club while an immediate independent review is conducted into the circumstances around some historic content on social media. Essex and Azeem Akhtar are determined to uphold the values of strong leadership, governance and accountability. By initiating this review, Azeem has demonstrated his commitment to those core values.”

It continues: “We remain committed to tackling discrimination and racism and have a zero-tolerance approach in this area. All of those connected with Essex want to ensure the Club is a safe and welcoming place where everyone, no matter of background, can play a major part in the future of Essex Cricket.

Essex’s deputy chair, Sir Stephen O’Brien, will take on the role of chair on an interim basis.