Pete Rose Reportedly Won't Return to Fox Sports After Allegations in Lawsuit

MLB legend Pete Rose reportedly won't return to Fox Sports after allegations of a sexual relationship with a girl under the age of 16 during the 1970s emerged in a defamation lawsuit.

On Thursday, Lesley Goldberg and Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter noted Rose is no longer scheduled to take part in Fox Sports' coverage of the MLB playoffs as originally planned.

James Pilcher and Dave Clark of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported last month the woman involved provided a sworn statement about the alleged statutory rape in federal court as part of a suit the longtime Cincinnati Reds player and manager filed against MLB investigator John Dowd.

"In 1973, when I was 14 or 15 years old, I received a phone call from Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds," the woman listed as "Jane Doe" said. "Sometime after that, Pete Rose and I began meeting at a house in Cincinnati. It was at that house where, before my sixteenth birthday, Pete Rose began a sexual relationship with me. This sexual relationship lasted for several years. Pete Rose also met me in locations outside of Ohio where we had sex."

The report also noted Rose "acknowledged" the relationship as part of his court filings, but said he believed the girl was over the age of 16 and denied they had sex outside of Ohio.

In early August, the Philadelphia Phillies announced they scrapped a planned tribute to Rose, MLB's all-time hits leader, during their Alumni Weekend because of "recent events," per William Weinbaum of ESPN.com.

Rose was banned from baseball for life in 1989 following an investigation led by Dowd into claims he bet on games. He's been ruled ineligible for enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame as a result of the ban.