MICHAEL VAUGHAN has been axed by the BBC from their Ashes coverage this winter after allegations of racism at Yorkshire.
The former England captain, 47, was expected to form part of the team for the series Down Under this winter.
But the Beeb dropped Vaughan from his 5 Live show and have now ruled out employing Vaughan for the Ashes, which start on December 8.
Vaughan joined the BBC’s Test Match Special radio team as a summariser in 2009.
But the BBC 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.”
However, as things stand, Vaughan may still be heard in the UK during the Ashes because BT Sport, who have the rights, will take a feed from Fox Sports in Australia, for whom he is working.
Vaughan was named by Azeem Rafiq for making racist remarks towards four of his former team-mates in 2009.
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN NEW CUSTOMER DEALS
Vaughan has repeatedly denied the allegation he told the group of Asian Yorkshire players there are “too many of you lot” in the squad.
Writing in his Telegraph column, he claimed: “I completely and categorically deny that I ever said those words.
“I will fight to the end to prove I am not that person.”
The claim was corroborated by England bowler Adil Rashid and Pakistan star Rana Naved-ul-Hasan.
That led the BBC to drop Vaughan from the Tuffers and Vaughan radio show.
And Rafiq called on the organisation to sack Vaughan completely.
Rafiq told BBC Sport last week: “With people in denial there’s got to be a level of accountability there and it’s for their employers to send out a message — are they going to give a green light to racism or are they going to stamp it out?
“I’m disappointed in a lot of people’s denials. It may not mean a lot to them — I can live with that.
“But to try and completely deny it and make out that it’s all made up in my head is hurtful.”
Vaughan is also embroiled in a Twitter storm after tweeting, ‘Not many English people live in London. I need to learn a new language’ in 2010.
More to follow…
