Slur on Rangers hero sees BBC presenter breach guidelines after 'personal attack' on air

BBC presenter Stuart Cosgrove has been found to have breached the broadcasters guidelines with his comments about Rangers legend Richard Gough.

A listener had complained to the BBC about a comment from Cosgrove back in January in which he claimed he wasn't sure if Gough, born in Sweden but raised in South Africa, was 'against apartheid.' The comment was made on Off The Ball which Cosgrove hosts with Tam Cowan and the BBC previously acknowledged a breach of standards, which they discussed with Cosgrove.

The broadcaster's Executive Complaints Unit issued a report today which found his words "gave the impression of being a personal attack on someone who did not have the opportunity of responding, and went beyond what would be considered generally acceptable in a programme of this kind". But they had acknowledged it earlier this year and the ECU said that sufficed to resolve the complaint.

As part of the same report, Cosgrove's co-host Cowan had been ordered to take part in diversity training after a comment referencing a cucumber was deemed to have "elements of sexism and sexual innuendo." The two comments in question were made on separate editions of Off The Ball, Cosgrove's in January and Cowan's on February 10.

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