BY AGENCY REPORTER
MICHAEL Vaughan has been axed by the BBC for their coverage of the Ashes after an allegation was made against him by Azeem Rafiq.
The former England skipper would have been part of the team providing commentary and analysis for BBC’s channels throughout the series, which gets under way on December 8.
But the broadcaster has announced it will not be employing Vaughan for the Ashes this year as he is involved in the “significant story” surrounding a racist remark he allegedly made while playing for Yorkshire in 2009.
Rafiq claimed Vaughan had said to a group of Asian players that there were “too many of you lot” in the Yorkshire squad.
Vaughan has repeatedly denied the allegation made against him.
“I completely and categorically deny that I ever said those words,” he wrote in a column for the Telegraph. “I will fight to the end to prove I am not that person.”
The BBC said it had taken the “editorial” decision to cut Vaughan from its coverage of the Ashes, which starts on December 8.
“While he is involved in a significant story in cricket, for editorial reasons we do not believe that it would be appropriate for Michael Vaughan to have a role in our Ashes team or wider coverage of the sport at the moment,” the broadcaster said in a statement.
“We require our contributors to talk about relevant topics and his involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest.”
UK fans may still be able to hear Vaughan’s analysis over the airwaves in December and January, though, as he is still set to work for Fox Sports – BT Sport, which has the rights to show the action, will be using the Australian broadcaster’s feed.
While Vaughan denied the allegation, Rafiq’s claim was supported by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Adil Rashid.
– mirror.co.uk
