Michael Vaughan strongly denies Azeem Rafiq’s accusation that he made a racist comment towards him and other players before a Yorkshire game in 2009; This article contains comments that may be annoying to some readers.
Michael Vaughan will not host his BBC radio show on Monday
Former England captain Michael Vaughan will not appear on BBC 5 Live’s ‘Tuffers and Vaughan Show’ on Monday following claims by Azeem Rafiq that he made a racially insensitive comment to him and other players during his time in Yorkshire.
Vaughan revealed in his Daily telegraph Thursday’s column that had been implicated in a report on Rafiq’s accusations of institutional racism at the Yorkshire County Cricket Club, but categorically denied telling a group of fellow Asians that there were “too many of you, we have to do something about it.”
However, a BBC spokesperson said on Friday: “The BBC takes allegations of racism very seriously.
“The accusation against Michael Vaughan predates his time working for the BBC, we are not part of the investigation carried out by the Yorkshire County Cricket Club and we have not had access to the subsequent report.
“However, we learned of only one allegation that Michael strongly denies and we have been following the situation closely.
“We have made an editorial decision that Michael will not appear as a host on 5 Live’s Tuffers and Vaughan Show on Monday.
“The show focuses on topical discussion on current cricket affairs and given his personal involvement, we must ensure that the program is kept fair. We continue to discuss with Michael and his team.”
In a new report from ESPNCricinfo, Former Pakistani international Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who played for Yorkshire as a foreign player in 2008 and 2009, says he heard the comment that Rafiq accuses Vaughan of making.
The report also indicates that the 43-year-old is prepared to give testimony on the matter to any interested investigation.
Talking to ESPNCricinfo In 2020, when Rafiq’s broad claims had just become public knowledge, Rana said: “I fully support what Azeem said and this has also been my case.
“I never talked about it because as foreigners we were temporary and somehow I managed to accept the way it is. So I concentrated on playing cricket. I never wanted to jeopardize my contracts.
“Sometimes I felt bad, but I decided to ignore it because I knew I was not going to live there permanently. But I know what Azeem went through.”
Former England captain Vaughan revealed that in December 2020 he was asked to speak to the independent panel investigating Rafiq’s allegations of racism in Yorkshire.
Vaughan, who said he had no idea why he was invited to speak to the panel until he heard the allegations, strongly denies the claims and says “I have nothing to hide.”
Vaughan wrote in his Daily telegraph column: “The night before I was due to testify, out of nowhere, word came to me that Rafiq alleged that in 2009, when he was still a player and before a Yorkshire match against Nottinghamshire, Rafiq and two others had said Asian players, as we walked onto the field together, they said ‘there are a lot of you, we have to do something about it.’
“This hit me really hard. It was like being hit over the head with a brick. I have been involved in cricket for 30 years and have never been charged with any remotely similar incident or disciplinary offense as a player or commentator. That accusation came out completely. out of nowhere and more than a decade after it supposedly happened made it even more difficult to process.
“I completely and categorically deny saying those words. I responded to the panel saying that I was stunned and that my professional legal advice was that I could not appear before a panel after receiving only a few hours’ notice of such serious claims made on me. against.
“It was 11 years after the alleged event. Nothing was raised or said at all at the time of the game in question. It was not mentioned at that time or at any stage for the next 11 years until the night before I was asked to. Talk to the query.
“I have nothing to hide. The ‘you many’ comment never happened. Anyone who tries to remember the words spoken 10 years ago will be fallible, but I am convinced that those words were not used.
“If Rafiq believes that something was said at the time that upset him, then that is what he believes. It is difficult to comment on that, except to say that it hurts me enormously to think that I potentially affected someone.
“I take it as the most serious accusation that has been presented to me and I will fight to the end to prove that I am not that person.”
Vaughan, speaking at his home in Cheshire on Friday, redoubled his denial of using racist language.
“I did my article last night and I stand by what I say. I know that in my life, I have never said anything racist to anyone. So that is what I stand for,” he told the PA news agency.
