The BBC will air Saturday’s Match of the Day (MOTD) without pundit analysis or studio presentation after a host of regular participants dropped out. Gary Lineker was reportedly asked to step back from the show amid ongoing Twitter controversy, with a number of his colleagues refusing to appear this week in solidarity with the former England star.
Lineker’s situation is the subject of intense debate after he likened the government’s asylum policy to Nazi Germany on social media. The 62-year-old is the highest-paid employee at the BBC and has presented MOTD since 1999.
It emerged on Friday that Lineker was set to step back from his presenting duties after days of ‘extensive talks’ to come to an agreement on his social media usage. He was supposedly reluctant to apologise for his remarks.
Upon learning of Lineker’s planned absence, pundits Alan Shearer and Ian Wright each informed the BBC that they would not partake in Saturday’s show in a display of support for their colleague.
Fellow pundits Jermaine Jenas and Micah Richards, who both regularly appear on MOTD, subsequently stated on social media that they would have taken the same stance as Wright and Shearer.
Later that night, a BBC spokesperson 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. We understand their position and we have decided that the programme will focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry.”
Lineker has two years left on his contract to present MOTD and he made it clear before the announcement earlier this week that he was ‘looking forward’ to appearing on Saturday’s programme, despite the brewing controversy.
Manchester United hero Gary Neville was vocal in his support for Lineker on social media, retweeting an excerpt which called the saga an ‘overreaction brought on by a rightwing media frenzy’.
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