Article below contains subject matter that readers may find offensive and distressing; Sky Sports News contacted Newcastle Falcons today regarding Burrell’s comments that the owner did not reach out to him for six months; the club did not wish to comment
Wednesday 5 April 2023 19:54, UK
Former England centre Luther Burrell has told Sky Sports News he went through "a dark period" after raising incidents of racism at his former team, Newcastle Falcons.
Speaking for the first time after an eight-month independent investigation ruled in his favour, finding he was the victim of racial abuse during his time at Newcastle, Burrell also revealed that only one Falcons player and one staff member have reached out to him and that it took owner Semore Kurdi more than six months to speak to him.
Newcastle Falcons did not comment when asked about this by Sky Sports News.
Despite this, Burrell says he wants to play a part in the club's progression going forward.
In a wide-ranging interview, which you can watch at the top of the page, Burrell discussed the specific racist incidents that prompted him to come forward, his anger at the situation and his battle with his mental health since.
Burrell: "It's always tough going back to that space, reliving these experiences. At the point, you don't really appreciate the depth of them.
"For me, as I've alluded to, the final straw was when you're talking about somebody being a 'slave'.
"I was supposed to be a team-mate to this player, this character. I'm supposed to look after him on the field, go to war with him every weekend.
"It's what was categorised as 'banter', calling me a slave, saying I need sun cream on my wrists and ankles where my 'shackles' were. We're going back hundreds of years here... It's absolutely ridiculous.
"This is the sort of stuff that needs to be eradicated. It's abhorrent, horrendous.
"But, not just that, I think the things that the club had in place were, to their own admission, not up to standard. They're going to learn a lot from this experience.
"They came out and publicly said: 'if the player had gone to HR, it would have been handled differently'. There was no HR department, so where was I to go?
"This is my opportunity to actually hit back at that statement. I'm frustrated by that and I'm still frustrated by them because they haven't really taken accountability. I was almost alienated.
"But things have been proven now; I'm sure the club will move in the right direction."
Burrell: "You can see from my body language and how I talk about this, when someone talks to me about racism, it triggers me. Not just that, it's disrespectful - it's undermining my dignity.
"I didn't want to go out there and put my body on the line, risk injury and everything else that comes with this brutal sport we play when someone was saying something like that to me.
"I can say categorically that my form dipped after these particular moments. Of course it did.
"But what can I do? If I reacted and started lashing out, throwing punches or getting aggressive, I would have been the one getting ostracised.
"The whole debate would have been diminished because the narrative would have been, 'Luther Burrell has been aggressive because someone has 'apparently been racist'.
"I was angry but I had people around me at the time that managed to diffuse it and remove me. I think I managed to handle it in the right manner, to be honest.
"There was an incident when somebody called me a [racial slur] and another player actually stepped in and said: 'that's gone too far, you can't say that'.
"What resonated more with me was that one player recognised that's too far. That's what really stuck with me. I wish there were more instances of that.
"People that heard other stuff, other comments, at different periods of time, would ask me, 'how do you put up with that?' And I'm talking about senior people, coaches.
"I'd think, 'come on, you're in a position of power'. This is what needs to change and why I'm having these conversations, why I publicly had to come out and say something. Because everybody has a responsibility.
"It's not just down to black people, Asian people, women... Everybody has a responsibility to voice their opinion on this.
"This shouldn't be an issue in 2023. There's something wrong."
Burrell: "No one reached out [from Newcastle].
"There's a couple of players that left at the same time I did who were there for me and have been there for me throughout this whole period.
"In terms of players that have continued their playing career at Newcastle, I didn't hear from anyone until a couple of days ago, when they must have been briefed that this was all coming out. They perhaps thought, 'this has been an ongoing process, it must be tough for him'.
"I've had one player and one staff member reach out to me out of about 50. Take what you will from that.
"It took six and a half months for the owner of the club to come forward and have a meeting with me, sit down man to man and have a chat about what's going on. It's disappointing.
"I'm not sure why it took so long but, look, we finally got there and had a good discussion about moving forward and implementing senior roles within the team and backroom staff.
"Do people need to be educated? I don't think they do. Of course you can start with an educational point of view, but these are all smart lads, adults. In modern society, they probably change their outlook the minute they step into a different place of work that is not rugby or sport.
"As soon as they're in a different infrastructure, they're not behaving like that. They're aware. They understand. It's about making them accountable. Punishment needs to be in place, though I'm not sure how that would look.
"It's about representation. It starts at the top, the owner, CEO, right the way down to your director or rugby and the head coach. They're the drivers of the culture of each club.
"Start with them and that filters down to your senior team and the academies coming through.
"I'll hopefully be part of that club's progression, we'll hopefully continue to have these conversations and ultimately I want the club to progress because it's a beautiful game and I think in the North East rugby needs to be represented."
Burrell: "It's heavy. I took no counsel with this, no legal representation. These players were all offered counsel, offered support - these people were protected, it felt like.
"I wasn't contracted. I wasn't playing anymore... When you talk about mental health, I was not okay. I'll say that with my chest out.
"I went through a dark period. Not just with this; there's been aspects of my life that have been very difficult for me.
"It gets me emotional. Having this thrown into the mix, it's tough for anyone. It is a very complex subject we're talking about and it has to be navigated in the right manner.
"It has been a tough ride, but I want to thank those guys that have been there for me. They know who they are."
Burrell: "I'm really happy the RFU have published what they have and they've taken such accountability, because I can only see this being a positive thing moving forward.
"We'll wait to hear what their plans are, but I want to give them a shout out, because credit where credit is due. This could have been brushed under the carpet, it hasn't.
"They've done internal investigations and admitted that there is fault at all levels of the game."
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