'Offensive' Alan Brazil defies Ofcom to enter radio's Hall of Fame

talkSPORT presenter has been sacked three times

talkSPORT presenter Alan Brazil has been sacked three times (Rex Features)

He’s been sacked three times because of his hellraising lifestyle and faced rebukes by Ofcom after a series of offensive on-air gaffes. But now Alan Brazil will join the ranks of the broadcasting greats when he is inducted into the Radio Academy’s Hall of Fame.

The former Scotland football international, who made the transition to controversial talkSPORT presenter, will join Jo Whiley and Nicky Campbell in the Arqiva Hall of Fame next month, in recognition of a career which has frequently found Brazil, 55, at loggerheads with his employers.

The former Ipswich Town star, who was first sacked for missing a Cheltenham Gold Cup show after a drinking session, was reinstated after agreeing to pay a £5,000 fine for any subsequent show he missed due to alcohol.

He survived censure by Ofcom for referring to Japan as “the Nips” during the 2006 World Cup. This year he was carpeted by talkSPORT for implying that Robin Williams had been selfish in his decision to take his own life.

“It didn’t hit me hard like it would if it had been Robbie [Williams], thank God it wasn’t,” Brazil added.

During a discussion on female sports reporters, Brazil said: “It makes me cringe when female commentators get players’ names wrong.”

A spokesman for talkSPORT, which frequently is required to state Brazil expresses his “personal views” on air, said he fully deserved the honour, which will be presented at a Savoy lunch. “Alan is one of the longest standing and most successful presenters in UK radio, has presented the breakfast show on talkSPORT since the station launched and recently reached his highest ever number of listeners, with 1.5 million tuning in each week.”