Fallon not talking to BBC

Kieren Fallon will not be giving any interviews to the BBC for the foreseeable future, it emerged yesterday.

The corporation's cameras will be at Ascot on Saturday for the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, a race won 12 months ago by Fallon, and the champion jockey has a good chance of landing this year's contest on Kris Kin.

But viewers will not be able to hear the rider's views on this year's race, or indeed, "Glorious" Goodwood, which gets underway next Tuesday.

A spokesman for the BBC said: "Mr Fallon is not willing to talk to the BBC because he has ongoing litigation, to which the BBC is not a party, which he feels he needs to resolve before he can be interviewed again."

Last October, Fallon started proceedings in the High Court in London against Roger Buffham, the Jockey Club's former head of security, in the run-up to the BBC's controversial edition of Panorama entitled "The Corruption of Racing".

Buffham acted as consultant for the BBC in the exposé on racing, which was screened on October 6th, and Fallon's decision not to talk to the BBC is linked to the programme, in which he appeared.