BBC silences Vaughan for ‘conflict of interest’
MICHAEL VAUGHAN has spoken of his ‘disappointment’ at being axed from the BBC radio team for England’s Ashes tour in the wake of Azeem Rafiq’s allegations he had made racist comments.
Although the former England captain strongly denies the claims, the BBC said it had taken him off Test Match Special to avoid a potential ‘conflict of interest’ in relation to ongoing allegations.
Vaughan, 47, wrote on Instagram: ‘Very disappointed not to be commentating for TMS on the Ashes and will miss working with great colleagues & friends.
‘The issues facing cricket are bigger than any individual. I want to be part of the solution, listening, educating myself and helping to make it a more welcoming sport for all.’
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘While he is
The issues facing cricket are bigger than any individual. I want to be part of the solution
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.
‘We require contributors to talk about relevant topics. His involvement in the story represents a conflict of interest.’
Vaughan is still due to be part of Fox Sports’ team for Australian TV although BT Sport, which holds the UK rights and is planning to take a feed from Fox, is reportedly keen to avoid having the former batsman as part of its coverage.
Vaughan had already been stood down from a BBC radio show after Rafiq alleged he said ‘too many of you lot, we need to do something about it’ to him and a group of other Asian players during a Yorkshire match in 2009, claims he strongly denied.