London, Nov 30 (IANS) The British Broadcasting Corporation has apologised to radio listeners after cricket commentator and former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott used the F-word off air.
Boycott was overheard shouting “F***ing tosser” during radio coverage of the England’s one-day international match against South Africa Sunday.

Boycott did not know he could be heard on air, and made the observation after England took a sixth wicket - that of Ryan McClaren. England won the match.

A BBC spokesman said: “An off-air comment made by Geoffrey Boycott in a live broadcast was heard by some listeners which we apologised for as soon as we realised it had been audible.”

The Daily Mail newspaper said Boycott’s outburst “is unlikely to have the same career-threatening implications as the cases of Dean Jones and Ron Atkinson”.

Former Aussie batsman Jones was sacked in 2006 after referring to South Africa’s Muslim player Hashim Amla as a “terrorist” during a match between Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Football analyst Atkinson lost his jobs with ITV and the Guardian after he used the F-word and the N-word while discussing Ghanaian-born Chelsea star Marcel Desailly’s performance in a match against AS Monaco in 2004.