Sounding the alarm on racism terminated my career - Burrell

Important note: This piece contains details of racially offensive comments and conduct

Ex-England player Luther Burrell claims that going public to reveal racism in rugby union brought his professional journey to an premature conclusion.

In a 2022 interview, Burrell characterized racism as being "rife" in the sport, displaying Whatsapp messages and recalling training ground "comments" he had been subject to while playing for Newcastle.

At that time 34 and without a team, Burrell's only professional rugby since has been a handful of games with invitational side the Barbarians.

"I have absolutely had to end my career because of what occurred," he explained to media outlets.

"I really wanted to carry on playing, naturally I did. I pursued that, and it collapsed when word came out that there were investigations underway.

"This situation was difficult - I had to simply accept the outcome and understand that this whole situation is a lot more important than me."

A sports organization investigation in April 2023 found Burrell's claims were accurate "on the balance of probability", but stated it could not collect enough proof to definitively say they happened at Newcastle.

Burrell told journalists he also encountered prejudice within the England set-up, during a international career that saw him win 15 caps after his debut in 2014.

"I have had several traumatic experiences within England camp," he stated.

"Certain instances of discrimination and other just old-school mentality that's really unacceptable."

Racism had become accepted in dressing rooms, in Burrell's view.

"This is something that has been disguised as humour and that's been the problem that I've personally suffered and seen," said Burrell, who is of Jamaican descent.

"Over a extended period you just begin to believe that it's the standard and that is acceptable and that it's not harmful, but that's nonsense."

Burrell explains he was eventually motivated to go public after a fellow player at Newcastle referred to him as a "slave" and instructed him to put sunscreen on his wrists and ankles "where your shackles were."

The governing body said Burrell's revelations had led to "a deeper look at the culture within the professional level and to the implementation of an strategy for the professional game."

"We has given considerable focus on diversity and diversity in the sport and a substantial amount of work undertaken both before and since Luther Burrell spoke publicly and shared his experiences of racism and classism," it continued.

"The organization are ongoing work with teams and partners in the elite level to work for a culture of acceptance but recognize this requires patience and is an ongoing process."

All Premiership and PWR club now has face-to-face education on building welcoming environments, with its success tracked via individual reports and surveys.

All England athletes, including youth squads, are trained in being "engaged observers" to step in and protect others from damaging behaviour.

"You be so pleased of what you have done," Burrell's mother Joyce told him as part of the documentary about his experiences.

"We know it has had this effect on you and finished your career, but in our eyes, you have achieved so much. We are so impressed of you and to have you as a family member."

Burrell's father Geoff passed away shortly after the filming of the film, and his sister passed away earlier this year.

Burrell, who grew up on a social housing in Huddersfield, maintains his work to make the sport more accessible.

His charitable organization aims to connect with children in under-served communities and help them succeed both on the field with complimentary sports training, mentoring and nutrition education.

"My personal motivations are genuine, I want to see the evolution of the sport and if nobody else is willing to tell their story then I'll continue to fight that cause because I'm not just pursuing this for myself," he said.

"Everyone involved have an responsibility to make the game as excellent as it can be and the longer I talk about it perhaps the more comfortable fellow players will feel about sharing their own stories as well.

"I need to grab the challenge by the opportunity and continue bearing this flag and keep supporting this responsibility and accomplish what I can to create possibilities and make the game more attractive and more inclusive.

"There's a lot of disadvantaged young people and a lot of economic hardship and I honestly think that the sport has the ability to transform their lives, just as it transformed things for me."