SALFORD, England (AP) — Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan was dropped by the BBC on Wednesday because of his involvement in the racism controversy enveloping county club Yorkshire.
Vaughan has been accused of using racially insensitive comments toward a group of players of Asian ethnicity in 2009 while they were at Yorkshire.
Vaughan has denied the allegations and said his reputation has been “trashed unfairly,” calling it “the worst thing I have ever experienced.”
The BBC, which uses Vaughan as a pundit, said it wasn’t currently appropriate for him to have a role in coverage of the upcoming Ashes series against Australia and for wider elements of the sport “while he is involved in a significant story in cricket.”
“We require our contributors to talk about relevant topics,” the broadcaster said in a statement, “and his involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest.”
Azeem Rafiq, the whistleblower whose revelations about the racism and bullying he suffered at Yorkshire has sparked a crisis in the English game, was the first to make the allegation that Vaughan said in 2009 of the four players of Asian heritage: “There are too many of you lot; we need to do something about it.”
Rafiq was one of the four players in question. Two more — Adil Rashid and Pakistan international Rana Naved-ul-Hasan — have also said they overheard Vaughan’s alleged remarks.
Vaughan might still be heard in Britain during the Ashes through his scheduled work for Australian rights-holder Fox Sports, which will provide the audio for BT Sport’s coverage of the series.
“Very disappointed not to be commentating for TMS (Test Match Special) on the Ashes and will miss working with great colleagues & friends," Vaughan wrote on his Instagram account, referring to the BBC radio program, “but looking forward to being behind the mic for @foxcricket in Australia.”
Vaughan said the issues facing cricket “are bigger than any individual case.”
"I want to be part of the solution, listening, educating myself and helping to make it a more welcoming sport for all,” he wrote.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has suspended Yorkshire from hosting international matches over its “wholly unacceptable” response to the racism faced by Rafiq, while some of the club’s sponsors are ending deals.
Last week, British sports minister Nigel Huddleston called for cricket to “get its house in order” and raised the possibility of independent regulation if it did not.
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The Associated Press
