Lineker’s comments dominated coverage of the UK government’s new asylum policy and were publicly criticised by a number of cabinet ministers. The former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville, a commentator for Sky Sports, said the decision was what happened when “you take on the Tories and the system”. The journalist Jon Sopel, who held several senior positions at the BBC, said: “Lucky there are no producer guidelines on whether you need to declare facilitating an £800k loan to a prime minister while applying for a job as chairman of a broadcasting organisation.” Labour said his position was “increasingly untenable”. Sharp later claimed he acted “in good faith” as a “go-between”. It was recently revealed that Sharp, a previous Tory donor, had made the introductions between Boris Johnson and one of the former UK prime minister’s distant cousins, who became a guarantor for a substantial loan. While suspending Lineker for breaching impartiality guidelines, the BBC chair, Richard Sharp, has faced calls to quit in recent weeks. “We understand their position and we have decided that the programme will focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry.” Solidarity.”Īlan Shearer, who had also been booked to appear on Saturday’s show, confirmed he would not turn up to work – leaving the BBC without any presenters for one of its best-known programmes.Ī BBC spokesperson later said: “Some of our pundits have said that they don’t wish to appear on the programme while we seek to resolve the situation with Gary. The former England footballer Ian Wright said he would not be working on this Saturday’s Match of the Day as a result of Lineker’s suspension: “Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. According to Walker, Lineker emphasised it was the BBC’s decision to take him off screen, saying: “They’ve told me I’ve had to step back.” The Channel 5 News presenter Dan Walker was live on air while exchanging text messages with Lineker. We have never said that Gary should be an opinion-free zone, or that he can’t have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies.” “When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none. The BBC has decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media. We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines.
Lineker was taken off air on Friday afternoon despite making it clear that he wanted to host this weekend’s edition of the programme.Ī BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC has been in extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days. If Lineker, who has two years left on his contract to present Match of the Day, refuses to back down, then it opens up the possibility of him leaving the corporation.
He likened the language used by ministers about asylum seekers to “that used by Germany in the 30s”, a comparison labelled “offensive” by the home secretary, Suella Braverman.Ī BBC spokesperson said Lineker would be off air until an agreement was reached on his future use of social media.
Ministers put the BBC under pressure after Lineker posted tweets this week criticising Rishi Sunak’s new asylum policy. The BBC has the option to use the Premier League’s world feed service.
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