LONDON (AP) — English county cricket team Essex was fined 50,000 pounds ($61,900) on Thursday in relation to a racist comment allegedly made by its then-chairman at a board meeting in 2017.

John Faragher, who quit his position last year, has denied what was described in the charge as “using racist and /or discriminatory terminology.”

However, Essex pleaded guilty to the charge as well as a failure to conduct an investigation once the allegations became known to all board members in January 2018.

John Faragher, Chairman of Essex County Cricket Club poses during the Essex CCC Photocall at Cloudfm County Ground on April 4, 2018 in Chelmsford, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Essex must pay 35,000 pounds ($43,300) immediately, while the remaining 15,000 pounds ($18,600) was suspended for two years. The club was also warned as to its further conduct and issued with a reprimand.

An independent disciplinary panel said in its written reasons that there has still not been an internal investigation by Essex, despite attempts by its new chief executive John Stephenson. An independent investigation is now underway as a result.

The panel said Stephenson had been “thwarted” by the Essex board because it is “paralyzed by internal division.”

Stephenson said, according the panel, that the position of some on the Essex board “is not compatible with moving forward with a culture change.”

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