Gary Lineker

Ian Wright and Piers Morgan support BBC presenter's right to express views while Suella Braverman and Lee Anderson are critical.

Mike Graham Another TalkTV host, Graham called Lineker’s tweet “disgusting” and said he should apologise to people of Jewish heritage who had found it offensive. “The people who are paying Gary Lineker’s salary are licence fee payers and they do not all agree with Gary Lineker,” she said. “To kind of throw out those kind of flippant analogies diminishes the unspeakable tragedy that millions of people went through and I don’t think anything that is happening in the UK today can come close to what happened in the Holocaust.” Lee Anderson The Conservative party vice-chair called Lineker’s invocation of Nazi-era Germany “disgusting and vile”. “The perception out there is that the BBC has bowed to government pressure. Ian Wright After it was announced on Friday that Lineker would not be hosting Saturday’s Match of the Day (MOTD), his co-host Wright said he wouldn’t be appearing either.

BBC Radio 5 Live's schedule was obliterated as live sport coverage was replaced by podcast repeats. Colin Murray and Mark Chapman were among the presenters who ...

We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines. Lineker was deemed to have broken BBC impartiality rules last October after tweeting his views on the Conservative Party accepting donations from Russia. “When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none. - Lineker is yet to even comment on his suspension. We are sorry for these changes which we recognise will be disappointing for BBC sport fans. [BBC](https://deadline.com/tag/bbc/) has apologized after its Premier League output went into freefall as mutinous presenters and pundits staged a protest over the suspension of [Gary Lineker](https://deadline.com/tag/gary-lineker/).

Alex Scott, the host of the BBC's "Football Focus" TV programme, pulled out of the show after Gary Lineker was taken off air.

This is a common sense decision that ensures players won't now be in that position." In the interest of transparency, this was a decision taken by the entire FT team and myself." "The PFA have been speaking to members who wanted to take a collective position and to be able to show their support for those who have chosen not to be part of tonight's programme," the PFA said in a statement.

Saturday's Match Of The Day will go ahead without a presenter, pundits and several regular commentators amid an impartiality debate.

Jason Mohammad announced he would not be presenting Final Score on Saturday, tweeting: “As you know, Final Score is a TV show very close to my heart. “We all love the BBC and are proud to work for such a great broadcaster. We have made a salary sacrifice today. Hopefully I will be back in the chair next week…” Many of us are freelancers – only paid per game. He said he would not “add to” the corporation’s current statement on the matter but that there had been “very constructive discussions”.

Greg Dyke says the BBC has undermined its credibility, as presenters and pundits pull out of football coverage.

He is employed by the BBC on a freelance basis. "The BBC is not acting impartially by caving in to Tory MPs who are complaining about Gary Lineker," he told broadcasters at Welsh Labour's conference in Llandudno. He said the government should focus on fixing the asylum system rather than "whingeing on" about Lineker and accused BBC bosses of bowing to pressure from ministers. Lineker reacted to it on Twitter calling it an "immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s". Mr Dyke warned the move could create the impression that the "BBC has bowed to government pressure". "The real problem today is that the BBC has undermined its own credibility by doing this," he told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Pundits Ian Wright and Alan Shearer and regular commentators say they will not appear on Saturday.

He is employed by the BBC on a freelance basis. "The BBC is not acting impartially by caving in to Tory MPs who are complaining about Gary Lineker," he told broadcasters at Welsh Labour's conference in Llandudno. He said the government should focus on fixing the asylum system rather than "whingeing on" about Lineker and accused BBC bosses of bowing to pressure from ministers. Lineker reacted to it on Twitter calling it an "immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s". Mr Dyke warned the move could create the impression that the "BBC has bowed to government pressure". "The real problem today is that the BBC has undermined its own credibility by doing this," he told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

The BBC is facing a boycott of its flagship soccer show "Match of the Day," as well as other soccer coverage, following its announcement that presenter Gary ...

But the decision to take Gary Lineker off air is indefensible. This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?” Lots of non Public Service Broadcasters can accommodate him and his views and he would be better paid.” “I honestly do not believe, despite a lot of the commentary, that this is about left or right,” Davie said. [tweeted](https://twitter.com/NicolaSturgeon/status/1634258493954727949): “As a strong supporter of public service broadcasting, I want to be able to defend the BBC. “It’s always such a privilege to work with BBC MOTD. But tomorrow I have taken the decision to stand down from my punditry duties. In an interview with BBC News on Saturday, the broadcaster’s Director General Tim Davie was asked if he should resign over the crisis. “The PFA have been speaking to members who wanted to take a collective position and to be able to show their support for those who have chosen not to be part of tonight’s programme,” the statement added. [announced](https://twitter.com/PFA/status/1634490666276323328/photo/1) on Saturday “players involved in today’s games will not be asked to participate in interviews with Match of the Day.” He added: “There is no huge influx. “The BBC will only be able to bring limited sport programming this weekend and our schedules will be updated to reflect that,” a BBC spokesperson said in a statement Saturday.

The broadcaster axed much of its soccer coverage on Saturday after presenters refused to work.

Speaking to BBC radio, Greg Dyke, a former director general of the BBC, said he thought the BBC had made a mistake by suspending Lineker and he did not expect the footballer to be silenced. Register for free to Reuters and know the full story Lineker, 62, had earlier in the week taken to Twitter to describe new government legislation on migrants as a "cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s."

Usual BBC programs Football Focus and Final Score have been scrapped today amid a mass presenter walk out, including Alex Scott, in support of Gary…

Hopefully I will be back in the chair next week….— Alex Scott MBE (@AlexScott) [March 11, 2023] However - I have this morning informed the BBC that I will not be presenting the show this afternoon on BBC One. The former Brighton striker, on Twitter, said: "Was meant to be up in Media City today but reflecting last night I felt it was the right thing to do to step away from Focus & Score today. "However - I have this morning informed the BBC that I will not be presenting the show this afternoon on BBC One." In a tweet, Scott said: “I made a decision last night that even though I love my show and we have had an incredible week winning an SJA for football focus that it doesn’t feel right for me to go ahead with the show today.

As a growing number of Premier League players and presenters rallied to Lineker's support, Britain's national broadcaster was forced to rip up its radio and ...

Last year, the BBC found Lineker had breached impartiality rules with a tweet about the Conservatives’ alleged Russian donations. Lunchtime TV program “Football Focus” was replaced on Saturday with a rerun episode of antiques show “Bargain Hunt,” while early evening “Final Score” was swapped for “The Repair Shop.” We are working hard to resolve the situation and hope to do so soon.” He was greeted with cheers from bystanders as he arrived. There will not be any post-match player interviews, either. [was suspended](https://apnews.com/article/gary-lineker-bbc-migrants-comments-braverman-86e76bdcec9d9c6773a3a87d5943422b) from “Match of the Day,” a popular highlights show, over a [lawmakers’ language about migrants](https://apnews.com/article/uk-migrants-channel-asylum-human-rights-braverman-497fc05aa4056bc3fdb2b5ba381931c1) to that used in Nazi Germany.

The BBC was forced to scrap much of its weekend sports programming as it scrambled to stem an escalating crisis over its suspension of host Gary Lineker.

Lineker has yet to comment publicly, and on Saturday went to his hometown of Leicester to watch Leicester City play Chelsea in the Premier League. On Friday, the BBC said Lineker would "step back" from "Match of the Day" until it had "an agreed and clear position on his use of social media." There will be no commentary on the matches and no studio punditry from some of the most high-profile stars in the British game who have chosen to support Lineker and not work. Instead of blanket coverage on Saturday of the most popular league in the world, the BBC had no preview shows on radio or TV and no early evening summary of the final scores of Premier League games. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made his first comments on the storm, saying: "Gary Lineker was a great footballer and is a talented presenter. The broadcaster said it would air only "limited sport programming" this weekend after hosts of many of its popular sports shows declined to appear, in solidarity with Lineker.

The BBC was forced to scrap much of its weekend sports programming as it scrambled to stem a crisis over its suspension of Lineker for comments criticizing ...

Lineker has yet to comment publicly, and on Saturday went to his hometown of Leicester to watch Leicester City play Chelsea in the Premier League. On Friday, the BBC said Lineker would "step back" from "Match of the Day" until it had "an agreed and clear position on his use of social media." There will be no commentary on the matches and no studio punditry from some of the most high-profile stars in the British game who have chosen to support Lineker and not work. We are working hard to resolve the situation and hope to do so soon." Lunchtime TV program "Football Focus" was replaced with a rerun episode of antiques show "Bargain Hunt," while early evening "Final Score" was swapped for "The Repair Shop." British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made his first comments on the storm, saying: "Gary Lineker was a great footballer and is a talented presenter.

BBC sport presenter Gary Lineker was suspended after criticising the British government's new asylum policy. Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City v ...

“We are working hard to resolve the situation and hope to do so soon.” “I hope that the current situation between Gary Lineker and the BBC can be resolved in a timely manner, but it is rightly a matter for them, not the government,” he said in a statement. The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) described the action taken against Lineker as a “massive own goal on the part of the BBC”. Keir Starmer, Labour Party leader, accused the BBC of “caving in” to the demands of Conservative Party members. The 62-year-old compared the language used to launch the new policy to that of Nazi-era Germany on Twitter, which the BBC said on Friday was a “breach of our guidelines”. The broadcaster said that Lineker will “step back” from presenting Match of the Day – a Saturday night fixture since 1964 and the longest-running football television programme in the world – until it agrees on a clear position on his use of social media.

Rishi Sunak has tried to distance the government from the row consuming the BBC over its suspension of football presenter Gary Lineker for what it said was ...

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“I'm sorry audiences have been affected, and they haven't got the programming,” Davie said in an interview with BBC News in Washington DC, where he is, somewhat ...

“Gary Lineker was a great footballer and is a talented presenter,” Sunak said. In the much-shared tweet, Lineker railed at what he described as a “beyond awful” British government policy to stop small boats carrying asylum seekers from arriving on British shores. Some analysts have suggested Sharp’s resignation would be a fair trade-off to see Lineker, who is the BBC’s highest-paid presenter at £1.35M ($1.62M) per year, welcomed back into the fold He added in a later tweet: “We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries. He added: “Everyone wants to calmly resolve the situation. “As a keen sports fan, I know to miss programming is a real blow, and I’m sorry about that.