Paper defends itself over Vaughan 'misquotes'

Michael Vaughan's memory of his choice of words appears to be faulty © Getty Images Enlarge

Michael Vaughan's claim that he did not use the word "Fredalo" in describing the reasons England under-performed at the World Cup has been contradicted by the newspaper that originally ran the story. The Guardian has posted online an audio excerpt from its interview with Vaughan, proving he did use the term.

The original story carried a quote in which Vaughan said: "You have to be honest: the 'Fredalo' incident did affect the team." However, Vaughan later suggested he had been misquoted. "I never used the word 'Fredalo'," Vaughan said. "As soon as you mention that, you are pinpointing one person. I'll be having dinner with him in an hour's time. It [the article] has been blown out of all proportion. One word changed the whole context of the article, a word which I didn't say."

But the paper's recording of the interview between Vaughan and the journalist Donald McRae shows Vaughan did use the word "Fredalo" to describe Flintoff's capsizing of a pedalo after a night of drinking in St Lucia. After Vaughan said that incidents affected the morale of the team, McRae said: "Was it ... ?" Vaughan replied: "Fredalo. It's bound to affect team spirit." He is also heard to use the term a second time later in the conversation.

Vaughan also mistakenly criticised the paper for not printing his comments that he as captain took responsibility for the team's disappointing performance. Ben Clissitt, The Guardian's sports editor, said: "We were rather puzzled by Michael's comments. It is clear that Michael uses the word 'Fredalo' on more than one occasion. Equally his contention that the interview did not contain any self-critical comments is misplaced. That passage appeared both on the front page of our sports section and in the interview inside."