BBC apologises for Boycott’s “f****** t*****” radio rant
November 30th, 2009 - 1:29 pm ICT by ANI
London, Nov.30 (ANI): The BBC has apologised to radio listeners for a foul-mouthed outburst by ex-England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott during its cricket coverage.
The outspoken 69-year-old commentator was overheard to say “f****** t*****” during Radio 5 Live’s broadcast of the fourth one-day international between South Africa and England in Port Elizabeth this morning.
According to The Times, Boycott made comment after the fall of South Africa’s sixth wicket when Paul Collingwood caught Ryan McLaren off the bowling of Stuart Broad. The hosts finished all out for 119.
It was not known who the comment was directed at and Boycott was unaware that the comments were being broadcast, a BBC source said. A Radio 5 Live 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.”
Boycott is not the first commentator to be caught out on air, but his outburst is very unlikely to have the same career-threatening implications as those that beset Dean Jones and Ron Atkinson.
In 2006, Jones, the former Australia batsman, was dismissed from his job as a commentator after referring to Hashim Amla, the South Africa batsman who is a Muslim, as a “terrorist” during the second Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa in Colombo. Jones thought he was off air and was later sacked.
Atkinson’s career as a football analyst was ruined after he used the f-word and the n-word to describe Marcel Desailly’s performance for Chelsea against AS Monaco in the Champions League semi-final, first-leg match in 2004. (ANI)
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