Michael Vaughan cut from BT Sport’s Ashes coverage after racism allegations

Michael Vaughan has been removed from BT Sport’s coverage of the Ashes after allegations that the former England captain made a racist comment in 2009.

Vaughan, who has strenuously denied the accusations, is set to be part of Fox Sports’ commentary team in Australia, with BT Sport having previously agreed a deal to share the same audio feed as the host broadcaster.

However, after Vaughan was accused by Azeem Rafiq of saying “there are too many of you lot, we need to do something about it” to a group of Asian players at Yorkshire, BT Sport have confirmed they will cut him from their coverage as it would “not be editorially appropriate or fit with BT Sport’s values”.

“As a result of Covid and travel restrictions, BT Sport had made the decision to take our commentary feed from the Australian host broadcaster,” a statement read.

“The recent report presented to UK Parliament uncovering institutional racism within cricket and specifically Yorkshire County Cricket Club is extremely disappointing and concerning for all.

“Given these recent events and the controversy with the situation, we had taken the decision that including Michael Vaughan within our Ashes coverage would not be editorially appropriate or fit with BT Sport’s values.

“We are still finalising plans but we are assessing the option of taking a hybrid approach, using Fox commentary where possible with the aim of putting our own commentary team in place if necessary.”

More to follow...

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