30 March 2023 , 07:48
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England cricket icon Michael Vaughan will reportedly discover his fate from the ECB's Cricket Discipline Commission hearing on Friday.
The 16-year Headingley veteran has been the subject of an investigation alleging he racially abused some of his former Yorkshire team-mates towards the end end of his time with Yorkshire in 2009. Vaughan was charged with bringing the game into disrepute by allegedly saying to Azeem Rafiq, Adil Rashid, Ajmal Shahzad and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan "There's too many of you lot, we need to have a word about that."
Vaughan, 48, has vehemently denied the accusation. Meanwhile, Yorkshire have already admitted to four charges as part of the wider case, which included its failure to prevent 'systemic use of racist and/or discriminatory language'. Sky News' Rob Harris reported the findings of the hearing will be made public on Friday.
Vaughan was the only accused player to contest their charges in person. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) also charged a number of other individuals, including Gary Ballance, who admitted to using a racial slur against Rafiq.
Ex-Yorkshire stars Matthew Hoggard, John Blain and Tim Bresnan were also among the contingent of ex-players who allegedly used racial slurs around the same period. All three denied bringing the game into disrepute and using racial slurs. Former Yorkshire head coach Andrew Gale and bowling mentor Richard Pyrah also had their cases heard during the disciplinary.
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Rafiq, 32, first made a complaint regarding his treatment at Yorkshire in 2018, but it wasn't until 2020 that an independent inquiry into the matter was launched. The club was criticised when that delay came to light, and former chairman Roger Hutton resigned from his role at the club.
Michael Vaughan will learn his fate from the racism disciplinary hearing on Friday (PA)The report upheld seven of the 43 allegations made by Rafiq from his two spells at Headingley (2008-14 and 2016-18), which included reference in regards to his weight, as well as race and religion. Rafiq and Vaughan only spent a short spell as team-mates before the latter retired from cricket in June 2009.
Ashes-winner Vaughan became an instant broadcasting regular in the wake of his retirement and has worked with the BBC on television and radio since then. He's also worked for Australian media when England have toured Down Under, but such positions have dried up since the allegation of racial abuse emerged.
The Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) is expected to announce its verdict on Friday as England's most concerning chapter regarding racism in the sport reaches a conclusion.