BBC DROPS Michael Vaughan from Ashes coverage

BBC DROPS Michael Vaughan from Ashes coverage after former England captain is accused of making ‘racist remark in 2009 towards a group of Asian players when he played for Yorkshire’

The BBC has dumped Michael Vaughan from its Ashes coverage after he was accused of making a racist remark over a decade ago.

The corporation gave the former England captain the boot for ‘editorial reasons’ in a statement today – just weeks after being kicked off his BBC Radio 5 Live.

A spokesman said bosses ‘do not believe it would be appropriate’ for the cricketing legend to cover the sport ‘at the moment’.

Vaughan was accused of telling three players of Asian heritage ‘there are too many of you lot. We need to do something about it’ during a 2009 county match.

Former teammate turned whistleblower Azeem Rafiq resurfaced the comment last month and was backed by Adil Rashid and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan.

But the final player in the group – Ajmal Shahzad – said he did not remember the comments and Vaughan has categorically denied the allegations.

The former England captain was given the boot for ‘editorial reasons’ by the corporation in a statement today

Despite this, the BBC has still unceremoniously dumped him from his role on Test Match Special after joining in 2009.

A BBC spokesman said: ‘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.

‘We require our contributors to talk about relevant topics and his involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest.’

Source: Read Full Article