Five Live axes Vaughan over racism claims
He denies ‘too many of you lot’ allegation
EX-ENGLAND cricket captain Michael Vaughan has been axed from his 5 Live radio show after being accused of racism.
Vaughan, 47, allegedly told Azeem Rafiq and two other Asian players before a game in 2009 “[there are] too many of you lot, we need to do something about it”.
Vaughan, who was playing for Yorkshire CCC at the time, says he did not make the remark.
The BBC, which did not say how long Vaughan has been axed for, said it was made aware of an allegation which he “strongly denies”.
It added: “We made the editorial decision that Michael won’t appear as a presenter on 5 Live’s Tuffers and Vaughan Show on Monday.
“The show focuses on discussion around current cricketing matters and given his personal involvement, we need to ensure we maintain... impartiality. We remain in discussion with Michael and his team.”
It comes after Vaughan revealed he was implicated in the independent report into former Yorkshire player Rafiq’s claims of racism at the club.
Vaughan says he “totally denies any allegation of racism”.
Roger Hutton yesterday quit as club chairman, and slated colleagues for their response to the scandal.
Two other board members, Hanif Malik and Stephen Willis, also resigned.
Hutton said: “There has been constant unwillingness from the executive members of the board and senior management... to apologise [ for] racism.” He joined in 2020, two years after Rafiq left the club. Lord Kamlesh Patel of Bradford has taken over as chairman. MP Julian Knight confirmed two “whistleblowers” have reported further abuse at the club. A former player of Asian descent claimed he had been urinated on. In September, the club released a summary of the independent report, which found Rafiq was racially harassed and bullied. Seven of his 43 allegations were upheld. The word “P***” had been used repeatedly, but the club said no players, coaches or executives would face disciplinary action. Yorkshire star Gary Ballance, 31, has admitted using racist language towards former team-mate Rafiq.