LONDON: Michael Vaughan was excluded from the BBC commentary team for the upcoming Ashes series in Australia to avoid a “conflict of interest” amid an ongoing racism dispute.
English cricket has been rocked by the racism revelations of former Yorkshire, Pakistani-born player Azeem Rafiq.
These included an allegation that former England captain Vaughan told the now 30-year-old Rafiq and other Yorkshire players of Asian descent that there were “too many of you, we need to do something about it” during a match. of the county in 2009.
Vaughan, a 2005 Ashes winning skipper, has “categorically denied” the allegation.
Following Rafiq’s comments, which sparked a wave of racism allegations within England cricket, 47-year-old Vaughan was discharged from his BBC radio show earlier this month.
And a spokesperson for the broadcaster said Wednesday: “While he is involved in a significant history in cricket, for editorial reasons we don’t believe it would be appropriate for Michael Vaughan to have a role on our Ashes team or broader coverage of the sport. moment.
“We require our employees to talk about relevant topics and his involvement in Yorkshire history is a conflict of interest.”
Vaughan still has a contract to comment on the Ashes series for Fox Sports, one of Australia’s broadcasters, and the former top-notch hitter remains a columnist for the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.
In a statement released in early November, Vaughan said: “I categorically deny having uttered the words attributed to me by Azeem Rafiq and I want to publicly reaffirm it because the ‘you many’ comment simply never happened.
“It is extremely shocking that this completely false accusation was made against me by a former teammate, apparently supported by two other players.
“I have been in contact with the other six players on that team and none of them have any recollection of the observation made,” he added.
Last week Rafiq, who later admitted posting an anti-Semitic message on Twitter as a teenager, gave vivid testimony to a parliamentary committee during a hearing in which he claimed his career had been cut short by racism.
Tom Harrison, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, was widely criticized for his response to Rafiq’s revelations as he appeared at the same hearing.
Following a meeting of constituent members of the national governing body on Friday, Harrison promised “tangible action” to combat racism, but said the details won’t be released until this week.
The fallout on the Yorkshire scandal, one of England’s oldest and most prestigious counties in cricket, has been devastating, with sponsors making a mass exodus and the club suspended from hosting lucrative international matches.
The Yorkshire president and chief executive have both resigned, while head coach Andrew Gale has been suspended pending investigation into a historic anti-Semitic tweet.
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