Indian Premier League: British cheerleaders 'banned for being black'

[Exeter]

Indian Premier League: British
cheerleaders 'banned for being black'
By Nick Allen
Last Updated: 11:21AM BST 22/05/2008

Two black British cheerleaders have claimed they were racially abused and prevented from performing at an event to promote India’s Twenty20 cricket league.

Dancers Ellesha Newton, 22, and Sherinne Anderson, 25, claim they were stopped from going on stage and abused by an Indian organiser ahead of a match at Mohali.

Miss Newton, from Islington, north London, told The Sun newspaper: “An organiser pulled us away. He said the people here don’t want to see dark people.

“The 'n' word was used and they said they only wanted beautiful white girls. We were crying. I could understand if it were the crowd but they were very receptive.”

The two women were among a group of a dozen dancers being used to promote the money-spinning Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament which has attracted star players from around the world.

The incident happened a month ago ahead of a game involving the King’s XI Punjab and came to light when the two women spoke to the Calcutta Telegraph.

Miss Newton told the newspaper that they were going to take their positions on stage when a member of staff from the pre-match show organisers asked them to leave.

She said: “We were surprised and asked them why and they told us it was because of the colour of our skin.”

The organisers, Wizcraft International Entertainment, denied any knowledge of the incident.

A spokesman told the Calcutta Telegraph: “We work with international clients and our employees are trained to interact with them.

“If there had been any racial discrimination I would have received a complaint but I know nothing of it.”

Indian Premier League: British cheerleaders \'banned for being black\' - Telegraph