“Sorry for the hurt he has gone through”: Michael Vaughan aplogizes to Azeem Rafiq over the racism controversy

Michael Vaughan apologizes to Azeem Rafiq for the first time in public after the racism claims made in Rafiq’s parliamentary hearing.

Azeem Rafiq’s racism case has gained a lot of eyeballs around the world. Rafiq did mention a lot of players during his parliamentary hearing in Westminster. Michael Vaughan was one such name, and he did face the repercussions of the same. He was dropped from the BBC Ashes broadcast team, whereas BT Sport is also looking to drop Vaughan.

Vaughan has finally apologized after the incident for the very first time. He has said to Rafiq that he is “sorry for the hurt he has gone through”. Rafiq made a claim that Vaughan commented on the presence of four Asian Players in the side by saying “there are too many of you lot, we need to do something about it”.

Michael Vaughan apologizes to Azeem Rafiq

However, speaking to BBC Breakfast’s Dan Walker, Vaughan reiterates the fact that he does not remember saying those lines.

“I don’t [remember saying that],” Vaughan said.

“My recollection from that day, as I’ve said, I was a Yorkshire player for 18 years, I was the first player to sign for that club that was not born in the county, so for 18 years we had gone from me being the first to sign for the club, Sachin Tendulkar being the first from overseas, to players being able to sign from other clubs.”

Vaughan has admitted that Rafiq’s comments hurt, but he has never used any racist language. However, he also admits that he has heard racist comments in the English dressing room.

If Michael Vaughan thinks his interview with Dan Walker makes us think he’s innocent of the accusations then he’s wrong. He goes from saying he didn’t say it to not remembering. He also thinks we’re in “different times now”. His tweet about Moeen Ali was only 4 years ago.

— Anthony Dent (@_toosb) November 27, 2021

“That [comment] hurts,” Vaughan added.

“Because I’ve always felt that every single team that I have been involved in, the biggest praise I ever got as England captain for six years was that I was the kind of person that really galvanized the group, got the team working together as one.”

“I’m sorry for the hurt that [Rafiq] has gone through,” Vaughan added.

Michael Vaughan also admits that he regrets making some of the tweets that he has made in the past.

“I look back at my 12 years in social media, I regret many tweets,” Vaughan said.

“I apologise deeply to anyone I offended with those tweets.”

Vaughan will not be a part of BBC Ashes team, but he is expected to work on TV in Australia with Fox Cricket.