This blog has been running for about 40 times as long as tonight’s Match of the Day replacement show so we are going to close it now but you can read all coverage of the row here. Good night
A summary of today's developments
The BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, said he will not resign over the fallout from Gary Lineker being asked to step back from the Match of the Day programme in an impartiality row. Davie also apologised for schedule changes after several BBC TV and radio sport shows were pulled at late notice including Football Focus, Final Score, 606 and Fighting Talk.
Match of the Day was rebranded to Premier League Highlights in a 20-minute programme this evening with no theme tune, commentary, post-match analysis, interviews or statistics on the highlights.
The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said the issue is for the BBC and Gary Lineker to resolve but he stands by his immigration plan.
The BBC chairman, Richard Sharp, is “totally unable” to handle the Gary Lineker row, according to Labour’s shadow culture secretary, Lucy Powell. She has written to the culture secretary, Lucy Frazer to demand Sharp’s position is “urgently clarified”, saying his involvement in arranging an £800,000 loan facility for Boris Johnson has “profoundly damaged the perception of the BBC’s impartiality and independence from government”.
BBC Scotland apologised for changes to its programming. Sportscene had an amended format similar to Match of the Day while some of the Sportsound slot on Radio Scotland was replaced by pre-recorded material.
BBC Radio Wales’s Call Rob Phillips programme, a sport phone-in, did not broadcast this evening. Instead there was a replay of a classical concert celebrating 100 years of the BBC in Wales.
Gary Lineker was spotted watching Leicester City v Chelsea with his son George on Saturday.
Updated
The programme has now concluded after the highlights of Everton’s win over Brentford.
The Premier League highlights-branded programme lasted just over 20 minutes.
It finishes with a look at the Premier League table.
Updated
The only graphic that has been shown is a brief one showing the final score and any goal scorers.
Updated
Along with no post-match analysis or presenters or pundits, there are no statistics graphics, which have been a feature of Match of the Day.
Updated
The next game is Leeds United v Brighton. Only four minutes left of the broadcast.
The only other sound provided apart from the crowd was the PA announcer at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium announcing Harry Kane scored a penalty.
Updated
Next up is the highlights of Tottenham’s victory over Nottingham Forest.
We are 12 minutes into this unconventional Match of the Day and the highlights of three games have been shown already.
The highlights of Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Leicester are over in a flash, despite quite a lot happening, and we move on to Crystal Palace vs Manchester City.
Updated
There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of focusing on goal celebrations or the managers’ reaction to the goals either.
There are no post-match interviews with the managers or players either from Bournemouth’s 1-0 win as we jump straight into Leicester v Chelsea highlights.
Updated
There are replays of the key moments and a graphic to indicate its the second-half highlights.
Updated
We begin with Bournemouth v Liverpool highlights with just the crowd noise which is very surreal.
The theme tune synonymous with the programme is absent as a graphic appears showing Premier League highlights.
Updated
There is an apology from the BBC narrator about not being able to bring in the normal Match of the Day programme or commentary.
The front of the Mail on Sunday.
MAIL On Sunday: “PM Hits Back In Lineker Storm” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/a17rTjIPD1
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) March 11, 2023
The Sunday Times front:
Sunday TIMES: “Lineker chaos piles pressure on BBC chief” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/pdqn9jt2Bi
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) March 11, 2023
The Telegraph splash:
Sunday TELEGRAPH: “I won’t quit, says BBC boss as he hints at climbdown” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/udKlAXBOPH
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) March 11, 2023
Here is a selection of Sunday’s papers starting with the Express.
Sunday EXPRESS: “BBC Sport Blackout” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/mdgQZ3cIjG
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) March 11, 2023
The BBC’s decision to take Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker off air following his tweet about refugees has led to one of the most unexpected controversies to envelop the football highlights programme in its nearly 60-year history.
The Saturday night broadcast has become an institution with millions tuning in throughout the season but its beginnings were quite low-key.
It first aired on BBC Two on 22 August 1964 and had a simple format: highlights of one match, cut to 55 minutes and screened at 6:40pm on Saturdays.
The BBC agreed with the Football League that the public were not to be told which match had been chosen until 4pm on the day, as the league was worried that supporters would stop attending games.
In anticipation of the first Match of the Day, the Guardian published a short preview of the programme.
Updated
Children have also delivered letters to Gary Lineker’s home with one expressing support for his stance on refugees.
Two boys posted letters through the former England footballer’s door in London.
Tristan, eight, who did not want to give his surname, turned up with his mother with a letter which said “thank you so much” to the star.
His mother said: “My son said, ‘Thank you so much. Thank you for defending the refugees’.”
Another boy could later be seen delivering a letter but his parents stayed in the car so reporters did not speak to him.
The daughter of a Jewish refugee, who came to the UK from Hungary in the 1930s, has delivered a letter to Gary Lineker’s home to thank him for his stance on immigration policy.
Susie Courtalt, 75, said she was thanking the 62-year-old former England footballer for “speaking up for all the people who can’t voice an opinion”.
She told the PA news agency: “I used to live in Barnes and have come up from Brighton to see a play, so I thought I would come and put a letter through the door.
“I just feel he is speaking up for all the people who can’t voice an opinion, including British people.
“My father was very fortunate to leave Hungary in the 1930s where the language was becoming like it is here. My father was 18 and my uncle was 20.
“For the government, he (Lineker) is someone they want to destroy.”
Updated
Gary Lineker’s suspension for expressing political views set off an avalanche of comparisons with other BBC stars who have not been similarly sanctioned for lacking impartiality, writes James Tapper.
Some were obvious: Lord Sugar of The Apprentice, whose 18 years of firing people have been punctuated by political outbursts, from newspaper interviews calling on people to vote Conservative to tweeting a mocked-up image of Jeremy Corbyn sitting next to Adolf Hitler.
Others were more obscure: Dame Mary Berry, the doyenne of TV cookery shows, has expressed scepticism about the government’s sugar tax in interviews and called for changes to the national curriculum to include cooking skills. They, like Lineker, were not journalists so shouldn’t be expected to adopt monastic levels of impartiality away from their jobs, political commentators argued.
Gary Lineker has returned to his home in south-west London in a chauffeured BMW after a day watching Leicester City play Chelsea.
He did not answer questions posed by media.
He was asked whether he would agree to return to the corporation following comments by BBC director general Tim Davie, as well as being asked “do you think [BBC chair] Richard Sharp should resign?” – but he would not be drawn into answering.
He was greeted by one of his sons at the door of his home in Barnes.
Updated
“Gary is 100% right,” said lifelong Leicester City fan John Farrell as he stood in the queue for a match-day programme before Saturday’s kick-off at King Power Stadium.
While the 67-year-old, who was in the stands for Gary Lineker’s Leicester City debut against Oldham Athletic on New Year’s Day 1979, didn’t necessarily agree with the content of the star striker turned broadcaster’s tweets, he strongly supported his right to an opinion. “I agree with freedom of speech. This is not Russia.”
Farrell, who runs a cleaning business – and whose son, Lee, also used to play for the team – said Lineker was a talismanic figure for the city in which he grew up and, before he was representing them on the pitch, was a regular sight at the market on his father’s fruit and vegetable stall.
Labour’s shadow culture secretary has accused Rishi Sunak of crying “crocodile tears” over the Gary Lineker impartiality row.
Responding to the prime minister’s statement this evening, Lucy Powell said “Tory bullying” was behind the presenter being asked to step back from Match of the Day.
“As usual, Rishi Sunak is hiding behind the playground bullies of the Tory Party,” she said.
“Rather than do anything about it, he offers weasel words and tries desperately to duck any responsibility.”
Sunak said he believed Lineker was a “great footballer” and a “talented presenter” but the government was doing what he believed was right in pursuing the Illegal Migration Bill.
He said Lineker’s position was a matter for the BBC, not the government.
Tim Davie says he is listening to feedback about how editorial guidelines are applied to different BBC staff.
The director general told the BBC there are questions about how they apply to freelancers within the organisation.
When asked if he would remove other presenters such as Lord Sugar, Chris Packham or Karren Brady who also give their opinions on social media, he said: “the current guidelines as they exist today … do draw distinction between those people who are seen as pan-BBC figures … that are different to those appearing on programmes. We can debate that.”
“I am in listening mode. I want to make sure that going forward we have a workable solution.”
Updated
The BBC One schedule has been updated to reflect that Match of the Day will now air for only 20 minutes.
The football highlights programme, which usually runs for around one hour and 30 minutes, will now be broadcast from 22.20 to 22.40.
Updated
BBC director general refuses to resign over Lineker impartiality row
Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, says he will not resign over the fallout over Gary Lineker.
Speaking to the BBC’s Nomia Iqbal in the US, he was asked if he should resign over the crisis and said he would not.
Davie also said it it has been a “difficult day” as he apologised for the disruption to the BBC’s sport programming today.
“I’m sorry audiences have been affected and they haven’t got the programming.
“As a keen sports fan I know to miss programming is a real blow and I’m sorry about that. We are working very hard to resolve this situation and make sure we get output on air.”
Davie added: “Everyone wants to calmly resolve the situation. Gary Lineker’s the best in the business – that’s not for debate.”
Updated
Shadow culture secretary: BBC chairman 'totally unable' to handle Gary Lineker row
BBC chairman Richard Sharp is “totally unable” to handle the Gary Lineker row, according to Labour’s shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell.
She has written to culture secretary Lucy Frazer to demand Sharp’s position is “urgently clarified”, saying his involvement in arranging an £800,000 loan facility for Boris Johnson has “profoundly damaged the perception of the BBC’s impartiality and independence from government”.
She wrote: “As the ultimate arbiter of these matters, Richard Sharp’s position, which was already increasingly untenable, needs to be urgently clarified. He is the one who should be giving staff, viewers and complainants the confidence that the organisation has acted proportionately and fairly. He is totally unable to perform this function”.
Powell called on Frazer to detail any conversations she had with Sharp, director-general Tim Davie and other BBC executives about Lineker’s suspension.
She also asked the minister to clarify when the investigation into Sharp’s appointment would be completed.
Updated
Saturday evening’s episode of the Fantasy 606 phone-in will not air on BBC Radio 5, presenter Chris Sutton has announced.
The former Blackburn Rovers and Norwich striker tweeted that he hoped that Gary Lineker and the BBC resolve “this messy situation”.
“There is no 606 tonight,” he said.
“I hope Gary Lineker and the BBC resolve this messy situation and Gary is back on MOTD soon but I’d have loved to have worked on our football phone in tonight and chatted about football and all of the days games.”
There is no 606 tonight.
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) March 11, 2023
I hope Gary Lineker and the BBC resolve this messy situation and Gary is back on MOTD soon but I’d have loved to have worked on our football phone in tonight and chatted about football and all of the days games.
Match of the Day will last 20 minutes
Tonight’s Match of the Day will last only 20 minutes, according to the BBC’s sports editor Dan Roan.
Roan wrote on Twitter: “BBC1 will broadcast a much-reduced MOTD of just 20 mins duration tonight.”
There is not expected to be commentary on any of the games.
The highlights show is currently scheduled to begin at 22:20 GMT.
The BBC previously said the show will “focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry”.
Updated
There was a small protest outside the BBC’s offices in Salford, Greater Manchester, where Match of the Day and a lot of BBC Sport’s output is based.
About a dozen people from Manchester Stand Up to Racism took part with a banner being held up saying “Reinstate Gary Lineker” and other signs saying “Refugees welcome here”.
Great to see #Manchester standing with #GaryLineker at Media City today.
— Stand Up To Racism (@AntiRacismDay) March 11, 2023
Nobody should be gagged for speaking out against the racist #IllegalMigrationBill #RefugeesWelcome #ReinstateGary #GaryLinekerIsRight pic.twitter.com/ak8YkXHhLQ
Sunak: Lineker row a matter for the BBC, not the government
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has a released a statement on the impartiality row and stated he will not weigh in on the issue between Lineker and the BBC.
He said: “As prime minister, I have to do what I believe is right, respecting that not everyone will always agree. That is why I have been unequivocal in my approach to stopping the boats.
Gary Lineker was a great footballer and is a talented presenter. 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.
“While that process is ongoing, it is important that we maintain perspective, particularly given the seriousness of the issue at hand. Forty-five thousand people crossed the channel illegally in the past year, many of whom have been exploited or trafficked by criminal gangs, putting their lives in danger.
“We need to break this cycle of misery once and for all and the policy we set out this week I believe aims to do just that. It is not only the fair and moral thing to do, it is also the compassionate thing to do.
“There are no easy answers to solving this problem, but I believe leadership is about taking the tough decisions to fix problems. I know not everyone will always agree, but I do believe this is fair and right.”
Updated
Updated
The BBC has apologised for the changes to this weekend’s sporting schedule and said it is “working hard to resolve the situation and hopes to do so soon”.
The broadcaster’s radio and TV timetables have been left in disarray as a series of presenters pulled out of shows after Gary Lineker was told to step back from hosting Match of the Day in a row over impartiality.
A spokesperson said: “The BBC will only be able to bring limited sport programming this weekend and our schedules will be updated to reflect that.
“We are sorry for these changes which we recognise will be disappointing for BBC sport fans.
“We are working hard to resolve the situation and hope to do so soon.”
Broadcasting union Bectu said the BBC’s handling of the impartiality row with Gary Lineker is “hugely disappointing” and feels it will “likely prove disastrous for its reputation”.
Philippa Childs, the head of Bectu, said: “Bectu has always been a staunch defender of the BBC and we are hugely proud of the important work our members do every day.
“However, the corporation’s handling of this crisis has been hugely disappointing and will likely prove disastrous for its reputation.”
She added the union body had previously written to the BBC’s director general about its concerns surrounding the corporation’s chairman, Richard Sharp, who recently became embroiled in a cronyism row over his part in helping Boris Johnson secure an £800,000 loan facility.
“Our members and no doubt many others who work at the BBC will be rightly confused why those at the highest levels of the corporation are apparently immune to the stringent guidelines applied to everyone else,” Childs said.
“Our thoughts are with all BBC staff at what we know is an incredibly challenging time, and we are here to support our members however we can.
“We fully understand the depth of feeling and why some freelancers will elect to not work on BBC sport programmes today or choose to join protests.
“The strength of feeling from both staff and members of the public should indicate to the corporation that its handling of the issue has been a massive misstep.”
Updated
BBC Radio Wales’s Call Rob Phillips programme, a sports phone-in, will not be broadcast this evening as a result of the BBC’s limited sport programming.
Instead there will be a replay of a classical concert celebrating 100 years of the BBC in Wales.
A BBC spokesperson said “we are sorry for these changes which we recognise will be disappointing for BBC sport fans”.
Here is Keir Starmer stating the BBC is not acting impartially by “caving in” to Tory pressure and suspending Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker.
BBC Scotland to change this evening's schedule
BBC Scotland has apologised for changes to its programming as a result of the Gary Lineker situation.
Sportscene will run this evening but with an amended format similar to the current plans for Match of the Day, while some of the Sportsound slot on Radio Scotland was replaced by pre-recorded material.
In a statement BBC Scotland said it “will only be able to bring limited sport programming this weekend and our schedules will be updated to reflect that”.
It added: “We are sorry for these changes which we recognise will be disappointing for BBC sport fans.
“We are working hard to resolve the situation and hope to do so soon.”
Updated
The commentator Ian Dennis resumed live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live at 3pm for the match between Leeds and Brighton after the radio station aired pre-recorded content as the boycott continued.
Beginning his on-air shift, Dennis said he “found today very difficult”, adding: “It’s a very difficult time for BBC Sport.”
“Personally I found today very difficult, but I’m a BBC staff member, I’m a radio commentator for BBC Radio 5 Live, and today, like every Saturday afternoon, we provide a service to you, the audience.”
Summary
If you’re just joining us, here’s all the latest on the row about Gary Lineker’s suspension from Match of the Day.
The move sparked a mass walkout by pundits, presenters, and other BBC Sport staff in solidarity with Lineker.
Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, and Alex Scott withdrew from their roles on Match of the Day and Football Focus.
Football Focus and Final Score were both ultimately pulled from the schedule, while BBC 5 Live played podcast reruns instead of its usual coverage.
The Professional Footballers’ Association announced that players would not be asked to take part in interviews with the BBC after today’s games.
Former England striker Jermain Defoe has said he will not appear as planned on Sunday’s Match of the Day 2.
The BBC said it would be airing “limited sport programming” over the weekend and apologised to fans, saying it was “working hard to resolve the situation”.
Former BBC director general Greg Dyke said the corporation had undermined its own credibility by creating a perception that it had “bowed to government pressure”.
The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, said the BBC was “not acting impartially by caving in to Tory MPs who are complaining about Gary Lineker”.
Lineker travelled to Leicester, his hometown, this afternoon to attend a match between Leicester City and Chelsea.
Fans at the stadium could be seen holding up signs supportive of the presenter, with one reading: “I’m with Gary. Migrants welcome.”
Updated
The Sports Journalists’ Association of Great Britain has backed today’s walkout by BBC Sport staff in solidarity with Lineker.
In a statement on Twitter, the body said it “fully supports its members and industry colleagues on freedom of speech”.
“The SJA would like to express its solidarity on this matter and will continue to monitor developments on the BBC and Gary Lineker story,” it said.
The Sports Journalists’ Association of Great Britain fully supports its members and industry colleagues on freedom of speech.
— Sports Journalists (@SportSJA) March 11, 2023
The SJA would like to express its solidarity on this matter and will continue to monitor developments on the BBC and Gary Lineker story.
'I cannot see why Lineker should step back,' says Klopp
The Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp, has commented on the Lineker row following his side’s 1-0 this afternoon to Bournemouth.
“I am not native but I cannot see any reason why you would ask somebody to step back for saying that,” he said.
“But that is the world we are living in. Everybody is so concerned with doing things in the right manner and saying the right stuff to everybody. If you don’t do that then you create a shitstorm that we didn’t have when we were young.”
Asked whether he would have granted an interview to the BBC today had it been requested, Klopp said: “It’s not like the guy with the BBC mic today is the bad person. I am not sure I was asked.
“I heard about the rules of the BBC that you are not allowed to have those kind of opinions. It is a difficult world to live in to fulfil all the expectations, particularly in public. I cannot say more about it.”
Updated
Photos show Lineker and his son at the Leicester City ground this afternoon for the club’s Premier League match against Chelsea.
Lineker could be seen in the stands during the match posing for photos with fans. People also held up signs supportive of the presenter, with one reading: “I’m with Gary. Migrants welcome.”
Updated
Who's come out for and against Lineker?
A single tweet sent by Gary Lineker on Tuesday afternoon has sparked a nationwide debate about impartiality at the BBC and how its guidelines should be enforced.
Here’s our rundown of which figures from across the worlds of media, sport, and politics have come out to defend him or to call for him to be censured.
Updated
League One side Forest Green won’t speak to the BBC until Gary Lineker is reinstated, club chairman Dale Vince has said.
The club’s match against Bristol Rovers, who made a similar announcement early this morning, is kicking off at 3pm.
In solidarity, we (@FGRFC_Official ) won’t be speaking to the BBC until Gary’s back #GaryLinekar #MOTD #football pic.twitter.com/rQToeqJmSg
— Dale Vince (@DaleVince) March 11, 2023
BBC apologises to staff
The BBC has apologised to staff after it dropped much of its sports programming this weekend, according to a leaked letter shared on Twitter by The Times’ chief football writer, Henry Winter.
The letter, signed by Barbara Slater, the corporation’s director of sport, said:
We are sorry about the impact that the news relating to Gary Lineker and Match Of The Day is having across the department this weekend.
We understand how unsettling this is for all of you – the staff in BBC Sport and our freelance community – and we understand the strength of feeling which has been generated by this issue.
We have just released a statement to confirm that we will only be able to bring limited sports programming this weekend and our schedules will be updated to reflect that. We know that the changes we are making to programming will be disappointing for BBC Sport fans and for the Sport team.
Individual heads of department and lead editors will be updating teams as and when they can, so if you have any specific questions about your role, please contact your line manager.
We are working hard to resolve the situation and we will update you as soon as possible. Thank you for your continued hard work and professionalism.
Updated
The BBC does not have the rights to use the Premier League’s global commentary feed, the Athletic reports.
After contributors from across the BBC’s sports coverage withdrew their services in solidarity with Lineker, the corporation announced that Match of the Day would air without presenters or pundits and would instead “focus on match action”.
It had been speculated that the BBC intended to use the commentary feed provided by the Premier League for broadcasters outside the UK.
The Athletic says its lack of rights for the feed means the BBC “must now decide whether to air Saturday’s episode with no accompanying commentary or analysis”.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey, has called on BBC chair, Richard Sharp, to resign over the Gary Lineker row.
A statement read:
This saga has shown failure at the very top of the BBC and the dire need to urgently protect their independence.
We need leadership at the BBC that upholds our proud British values and can withstand today’s consistently turbulent politics and Conservative bullying tactics.
Sadly, under Richard Sharp’s leadership, this has not been the case: his appointment and position are now totally untenable and he must resign.
The BBC should be a champion of freedom of speech and must overhaul their current rules and judgment on impartiality. They can’t continue to play by rules that are so one-sided.
The Conservative Government has systematically attacked and undermined the independence of our BBC. That’s not in the best interests of our country and our democracy and Liberal Democrats will fiercely stand up against this.
Updated
Gary Lineker has arrived at the Leicester City ground, the King Power Stadium, to watch the side play Chelsea in a Premier League tie.
Lineker was born and grew up in Leicester and spent the first seven years of his professional career at the club.
Updated
BBC apologises after weekend sports shows axed
The BBC will air “limited sport programming” over the weekend and is “working hard to resolve the situation”, a spokesperson for the broadcaster said, after presenters and pundits pulled out of several shows in support of Gary Lineker.
The BBC will only be able to bring limited sport programming this weekend and our schedules will be updated to reflect that.
We are sorry for these changes which we recognise will be disappointing for BBC sport fans.
We are working hard to resolve the situation and hope to do so soon.
Updated
BBC presenter admits fears about discussing BBC chair's Tory links
BBC 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake has posted on Instagram explaining why he believes Gary Lineker’s suspension is such a controversial issue.
He also says that he was “fearful” of raising the issue of BBC chair Richard Sharp’s association with the Conservatives – but decided to post anyway.
One of the many questions raised by Gary and his tweets is while he has been asked to ‘step back’ why is a man who is reported to have donated £400k to the Conservative Party still the chairman of the BBC. I have been asked this many times now.
If perception is important how will the BBC deal with that issue?
I struggled with posting this because I felt fearful to do so. But then realised that this is a legitimate question that would be discussed on my show.
I feel sad that I should feel fearful though. I believe in the BBC passionately but consistency is important.
Updated
BBC caving into Tory pressure 'the opposite of impartial' - Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer has said the BBC “caving in” to Conservative MPs in the Gary Lineker row is “the opposite of impartial”.
The Labour leader told broadcasters at Welsh Labour’s conference in Llandudno:
The BBC is not acting impartially by caving in to Tory MPs who are complaining about Gary Lineker.
They got this one badly wrong and now they’re very, very exposed.
As is the government, because at the heart of this is the government’s failure on the asylum system. And rather than take responsibility for the mess they’ve made, the government is casting around to blame anybody else – Gary Lineker, the BBC, civil servants, the ‘blob’.
What they should be doing is standing up, accepting they’ve broken the asylum system, and telling us what they’re going to do to actually fix it, not whingeing on about Gary Lineker.
Updated
What we know so far
Gary Lineker’s suspension from the BBC has been followed by dozens of presenters, pundits and contributors withdrawing from BBC duties this weekend.
As the corporation attempted to find a replacement host for Match of the Day on Friday, pundits Ian Wright and Alan Shearer announced they were pulling out of the show in solidarity.
Match of the Day is still due to air tonight, but without a presenter, pundits or commentators.
On Saturday morning, Alex Scott announced she had withdrawn from presenting Football Focus, and Jason Mohammad, the presenter of Final Score, followed suit. Both of those shows were then replaced on the BBC TV schedule.
The BBC’s Radio 5 Live sports coverage was also withdrawn, as was Colin Murray’s 11am Fighting Talk show on the station.
Former England striker Jermain Defoe has tweeted that he will not appear as planned on Sunday’s Match of the Day 2.
Former BBC director general Greg Dyke has said the BBC has undermined its own credibility because it will be viewed as having bowed to government pressure.
Lineker, meanwhile, has travelled to Leicester to watch his former side’s match against Chelsea.
Updated
Jermain Defoe pulls out of Sunday's Match of the Day 2
We already knew that tonight’s MOTD would be aired without a presenter, pundits or commentators.
Now, it looks like Sunday’s episode could face similar problems.
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. @GaryLineker
— Jermain Defoe OBE (@IAmJermainDefoe) March 11, 2023
Updated
Roger Mosey, a former head of BBC TV News, has said the Lineker row highlights how BBC chairman Richard Sharp has damaged the corporation’s credibility and called for him to stand down.
In January, the Sunday Times reported that, before being appointed to the job by former prime minister Boris Johnson, Sharp helped Johnson secure an £800,000 loan.
The revelations have led to widespread questions about his suitability for the role.
Mosey, now the master of Selwyn College, Cambridge, wrote: “By removing Lineker from MOTD, it looks as if the BBC has given in to one side of the culture war.
“That is, of course, intensified by the presence on the BBC board of [government] appointees – most notably the chairman.
“So suggestions for now: Richard Sharp should go. He damages the BBC’s credibility.”
Mosey also called on the BBC to send senior executives out to be interviewed and explain how they intend to resolve the row, adding that Lineker should be allowed to stay on at Match of the Day and to work “within clear, agreed guidelines”.
So suggestions for now: Richard Sharp should go. He damages the BBC's credibility. Ideally, Lineker should stay within clear, agreed guidelines. And the BBC should send out its executives to be interviewed and explain how they intend to resolve this crisis. (5/5)
— Roger Mosey (@rogermosey) March 11, 2023
Updated
Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has called on the BBC to “get serious” about ending the row surrounding Gary Lineker.
Speaking to reporters at an education conference in Birmingham, she said: “Fans will want to see [Match of the Day] tonight with all of the presenters and it’s not a situation that we should be in.”
She said she thought Lineker’s comments were “somewhat ill-advised” but that “what needs to happen now is the BBC to take a step back from all of this and to resolve it”.
Tom Peck, a columnist for the Independent, points out that Karren Brady, who appears as an adviser to Alan Sugar on BBC show The Apprentice, also sits as a Conservative member of the House of Lords.
Peck says Brady’s votes as a member of the chamber are “arguably of more consequence than a tweet”.
Lineker’s suspension was sparked by a tweet in which he said a government plan to effectively ban anyone who arrives in the UK illegally from claiming asylum had been expressed in “language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”.
Commenting on Peck’s tweet, Guardian columnist Marina Hyde suggests that every time Brady “votes in favour of their legislation, government ministers should demand she is sacked by the BBC”.
Numerous commentators have also pointed out that Sugar has frequently been vocal about politics, including by endorsing the Conservatives at the 2019 general election.
Just, you know, an idle thought, but Karren Brady is key on air talent in a flagship BBC show. And when she’s not on air she sits in the House of Lords, following the whip for the Tory Party, which is arguably of more consequence than a tweet. Is that okay?
— Tom Peck (@tompeck) March 11, 2023
Updated
Lineker to attend Leicester v Chelsea, son confirms
Gary Lineker is on his way to the Leicester City ground to watch the team’s match against Chelsea, his son has confirmed.
Harry Lineker, 29, spoke to reporters as he left Lineker’s home in Barnes, south-west London to walk the dog.
“He has gone to Leicester to watch the game. He will be back this evening,” he said.
Lineker was born and grew up in Leicester and spent the first seven years of his professional career at the club.
The game is set to kick off at 3pm.
We reported earlier that Colin Murray’s comedy sports show Fighting Talk, which had been due to be broadcast on 5 Live at 11am, had been pulled from the schedule.
Murray has now tweeted saying: “In the interest of transparency, this was a decision taken by the entire FT team and myself.”
Guests on the show were due to be Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Gail Emms, Reece Parkinson, and Bob Mills.
The show was replaced by a Chris Kamara podcast episode.
No @FightingTalk316 today, for obvious reasons.
— colin murray (@ColinMurray) March 11, 2023
In the interest of transparency, this was a decision taken by the entire FT team and myself.
Bob Mills was still up for it, to be fair ;)
GB News has announced it will be airing an “alternative Match of the Day” from 10pm tonight.
The channel doesn’t have the rights needed to broadcast games or goal highlights, but presenter Mark Dolan said the show would offer “political-free” punditry as well as “still photography and as many clips as we can get our hands on”.
🚨 Don't miss an alternative MATCH OF THE DAY live from 10pm tonight on GB News, hosted by @mrmarkdolan and @PatrickChristys.
— GB News (@GBNEWS) March 11, 2023
Only on GB News, the people's channel.
📺 Freeview 236, Sky 512, Virgin 604
🖥 GB News on YouTube https://t.co/Wa58gYGZwF pic.twitter.com/kAFVEHUhge
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has spoken out in Gary Lineker’s defence
Speaking to the LBC, he said Lineker had a “perfect right to express an opinion”.
“Even within the BBC’s own code, they are allowed to express opinions of a partisan nature, providing it doesn’t impinge on their area of work. His area is sport.”
He also criticised the way the controversy had taken attention away from the asylum policy Lineker’s original tweet was commenting on.
“Unfortunately the whole debate now is shifting on to Gary and the BBC and ignoring the issue of this, I think, disgraceful piece of legislation that parliament’s about to debate on Monday,” he said.
Updated
Impartiality is a knotty old concept, and one of the trickiest things about it is that it relies on the idea that you can safely find the middle ground.
Witness the agonised attempts by the BBC and the Labour party to land on that sweet spot of unimpeachable banality after radical centrist firebrand Gary Lineker’s tweets became a rightwing media obsession this week.
Even if you think his comparison of Suella Braverman’s rhetoric to that emanating from Germany in the 1930s is excessive, it is obviously the product of a moral clarity that has eluded the actual opposition.
Read the full piece from Archie Bland here:
Former Labour No 10 spin doctor Alastair Campbell has weighed in strongly in favour of Gary Lineker’s right to express his views on his private social media accounts in an interview with LBC this morning.
When asked if the number of followers Lineker commands on Twitter should make him more cautious, Campbell hit back arguing that the issue is a matter of principle, querying if other high-profile BBC presenters like David Attenborough and Brian Cox could also be suspended for expressing their personal views on their platforms.
5 Live Sport pulled
BBC has pulled its Radio 5 Live Sport coverage, saying there has been a change of schedule.
The station is currently playing old football podcasts.
Updated
Lineker expected to attend Leicester v Chelsea
Sky News is reporting that Gary Lineker is expected to attend Leicester City’s match with Chelsea at the King Power Stadium, Leicester’s home ground, today.
Lineker was born and grew up in Leicester and spent the first seven years of his professional career at the club.
The game is set to kick off at 3pm.
Sky News understands that Gary Lineker is expected to attend Leicester-Chelsea at the King Power Stadium today
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) March 11, 2023
Updated
Amid the news around Lineker and the BBC, it is worth remembering the tweet, and the policy, that sparked this debate.
It is not the first time in recent years that the UK government has been criticised over its rhetoric on refugees – nor is it the first time that comparisons with Nazi Germany have been invoked.
In a 2015 interview with the Guardian, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, then the UN’s human rights chief, said the dehumanising language used by UK and other European politicians to debate the refugee crisis had echoes of the pre-second world war rhetoric with which the world effectively turned its back on German and Austrian Jews and helped pave the way for the Holocaust.
In July that year, David Cameron referred to migrants in Calais as a “swarm of people”. At the Conservative party conference three months later, Theresa May, then the home secretary, was widely criticised for suggesting that mass migration made it “impossible to build a cohesive society”.
Zeid said the language surrounding the issue reminded him of the 1938 Evian conference, when countries including the US, the UK and Australia refused to take in substantial numbers of Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler’s annexation of Austria on the grounds that they would destabilise their societies and strain their economies. Their reluctance, Zeid added, helped Hitler to conclude that extermination could be an alternative to deportation.
Three-quarters of a century later, he said, the same rhetoric was being deployed by those seeking to make political capital out of the refugee crisis. “It’s just a political issue that is being ramped up by those who can use the excuse of even the smallest community as a threat to the sort of national purity of the state,” he said.
“If you just look back to the Evian conference and read through the intergovernmental discussion, you will see that there were things that were said that were very similar.
“Indeed, at the time, the Australian delegate said that if Australia accepted large numbers of European Jews they’d be importing Europe’s racial problem into Australia. I’m sure that in later years, he regretted that he ever said this – knowing what happened subsequently – but this is precisely the point. If we cannot forecast the future, at least we have the past as a guide that should wisen us, alert us to the dangers of using that rhetoric.”
Updated
What do we know so far?
Writing this feels like a Sisyphean task as more and more BBC contributors announce they are pulling out every hour, but here goes:
Gary Lineker has been suspended from the BBC over a perceived breach of the corporation’s impartiality rules. As the BBC attempted to find a replacement host for Match of the Day, Ian Wright and Alan Shearer announced they were pulling out of the show in solidarity
With the BBC struggling to find presenters, pundits or commentators for MOTD, it was announced the show would go ahead with only the match highlights being shown.
On Saturday morning, Alex Scott announced she had withdrawn from presenting Football Focus, and Jason Mohammad, the presenter of Final Score, followed suit. Both of those shows have now been replaced on the BBC TV schedule.
The BBC’s 5 Live sports coverage is also now battling withdrawals, while other sports shows on the radio station appear to have been pulled and replaced with podcast episodes.
Former BBC director general Greg Dyke has said the BBC has undermined its own credibility with its decision to stand Gary Lineker down because it will be viewed as having bowed to government pressure.
Updated
Final Score pulled from schedule
Final Score appears to have been pulled from the BBC One schedule, which now says The Repair Shop will run in its usual 4.30pm slot.
Presenter Jason Mohammad earlier confirmed he would not be hosting the show.
Dion Dublin pulls out of BBC 5 Live
Former England player Dion Dublin, who now works as a commentator for BBC 5 Live, has pulled out of today’s coverage.
“In Solidarity with my BBC Sport colleagues NO 5live for me today!” he wrote on Twitter.
In Solidarity with my BBC Sport colleagues NO 5live for me today!
— Dion Dublin (@DionDublinsDube) March 11, 2023
Updated
Lineker did not answer questions from reporters when he left his home in Barnes, south-west London, this morning.
He was asked: “How do you think this has been handled?”, “is this the end of your BBC career?”, “have you had any discussions with the BBC overnight?” and “do you expect to resign?”, but did not respond.
Updated
For anyone who missed it yesterday, Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol had this to say on why many feel aggrieved over Lineker’s suspension:
Gary Lineker suspended by the BBC for upsetting the Conservatives because he stood up for some of the most vulnerable people in the world. The same BBC whose chairman gave the Conservatives £400,000 before helping to arrange an £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson pic.twitter.com/gwwQ1j1oEr
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) March 10, 2023
Football Focus to be replaced by Bargain Hunt
The BBC appears to have pulled Football Focus from its schedule, with Bargain Hunt showing in its place.
It comes after Alex Scott confirmed she would not be presenting the football preview show at noon, saying “it doesn’t feel right for me to go ahead with the show today”.
As you can see from this blog, she is one of a number of presenters and pundits to pull out of BBC shows after Gary Lineker was told to step back from hosting Match of the Day in a row over impartiality.
Updated
BBC Radio 5 Live coverage in doubt - reports
The Daily Mail’s Mike Keegan has tweeted to suggest that the BBC’s 5 Live sports coverage is also now in peril.
Believe 5 Live Sport this afternoon now under threat. Have much sympathy with Beeb staffers (with bills to pay) who will now be under pressure to pull out. Difficult position to be in. Utter mess.
— Mike Keegan (@MikeKeegan_DM) March 11, 2023
This comes at the same time as the BBC announced that Colin Murray’s Fighting Talk comedy sports show has been pulled from 5 Live today.
Guests were due to be Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Gail Emms, Reece Parkinson and Bob Mills.
The show has been replaced by a Chris Kamara podcast episode.
Updated
This is a fast-developing situation for the BBC.
Freelance reporter and presenter Flo Lloyd-Hughes suggests tomorrow’s WSL coverage of Chelsea vs Manchester United could also soon be affected.
In terms of WSL. Whisper produce the live game for BBC and Gravity the Women’s Football Show. BBC talent make up the live broadcast. Tbc on potential impact on Chelsea-United tomorrow. Everything is changing very quickly….
— Flo Lloyd-Hughes (@FloydTweet) March 11, 2023
Ian Wright said he is 'gone' if BBC 'get rid' of Lineker
Former England footballer Ian Wright has said on his podcast that he is “out” and “gone” if the BBC “get rid” of Gary Lineker.
In an episode of Wrighty’s House, aired on Friday before Lineker was told to step back from presenting Match of the Day, Wright called the tweet row “the perfect distraction” for the government.
He added:
I’ll tell you something. If they do – the BBC get rid of Gary Lineker – I’m out, I’m gone. I’m not staying there. On his own platform he should be able to say what he wants to say.
Explaining the row, Wright said:
He wrote a tweet criticising the government about everything that’s happening, the human rights issues and everything here and it’s the perfect distraction for this government, man.
Gary’s tweet was the headline news, bro.
They need Gary Lineker to distract everybody because for me it is a human issue, it’s not political.
They’ve got no empathy. The most vulnerable ones are always the ones that suffer, they’re the ones that suffer and it starts with words.
Updated
It’s not just presenters, pundits and players showing their solidarity with Lineker, either.
Bristol Rovers is – it seems – the first professional football club to say none of its staff will speak to the BBC today.
❌ We won’t be talking to the BBC before or after today’s game.#BristolRovers #WeStandWithGary pic.twitter.com/hheWPFxfTM
— Bristol Rovers (@Official_BRFC) March 11, 2023
For those looking to take a step back from today’s non-stop announcements and withdrawals, my colleague Barney Ronay has written about the wider implications of Lineker’s suspension.
Pundit Glenn Murray also said he had pulled out of appearing on Football Focus and Final Score on Saturday.
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.
— Glenn Murray (@GM_83) March 11, 2023
Hoping normal service resumes next week 🤞🏼
BBC Final Score presenter pulls out of today's show
This is getting worse for the BBC very quickly. Jason Mohammad, presenter of Final Score, has announced he has pulled out of today’s show.
Morning all.
— Jason Mohammad (@jasonmohammad) March 11, 2023
As you know, Final Score is a TV show very close to my heart.
However - I have this morning informed the BBC that I will not be presenting the show this afternoon on BBC One.
There has been plenty of speculation about how Lineker’s suspension has been received by other BBC employees, particularly those who might fall into the presenter category.
John Wilson, presenter of Front Row (and son of Arsenal goalkeeping legend Bob Wilson), tweeted a section from the corporation’s editorial guidelines that Lineker was, in his words, “deemed to have breached”.
Lots of talk about BBC guidelines. Here’s the section that Lineker is deemed to have breached. pic.twitter.com/jWzEO4ufq0
— John Wilson (@JohnWilson14) March 11, 2023
He then retweeted this suggestion that the reference to sports presenters was “confusing and unhelpful”.
Important for context. I respect the views of people who sit on both sides of the fence but I’d argue it’s confusing and unhelpful that the guidelines specifically state that a sports presenter expressing views on politics is low risk. https://t.co/0m3UOyGbPA
— Ben Carter (@Doubting_Ben) March 11, 2023
Richard Ayre, former controller of editorial policy at the BBC, has said the broadcaster’s reputation is “bigger and more important” than any individual, including Gary Lineker.
He told BBC Breakfast on Saturday that there will be “real street-to-street fighting” between political parties in the lead-up to the general election.
The BBC, in this time of all times, has to tread as straight a line as it can between the parties and avoid taking sides in its own output, and the BBC believes it also has to ensure that those key people who are identified as the BBC in the public mind also walk a straight line in what they say on their private social network.
On Lineker’s suspension from presenting Match of the Day, he added
It’s a sad occasion for viewers, for anybody who’s interested in football, it will be very sad if they can’t reconcile with Gary.
He is superlative, he is absolutely extraordinarily good, not just as a football pundit, of course, but I think, in my 50 or so years of association with the BBC, I’ve never come across such a naturally gifted television presenter.
He’s terrific and it will be very sad if he goes, but frankly the BBC and its reputation is bigger and more important than any individual, even Gary.
Updated
BBC has undermined its credibility, says ex-director general
The BBC has undermined its own credibility with its decision to stand Gary Lineker down from hosting Match of the Day because it will be viewed as having bowed to government pressure, its former director general Greg Dyke has said.
Dyke told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
There is a long-established precedent in the BBC that is that if you’re an entertainment presenter or you’re a football presenter, then you are not bound by those same rules.
The real problem of today is that the BBC has undermined its own credibility by doing this because it looks like – the perception out there – that the BBC has bowed to government pressure.
And once the BBC does that, then you’re in real problems. The perception out there is going to be that Gary Lineker, a much-loved television presenter, was taken off air after government pressure on a particular issue.
Asked whether Lineker’s tweet was acceptable, he said:
We live in a world of freedom of speech and therefore, yes. He didn’t broadcast it on the BBC, it was a tweet he did privately.
I think what the BBC did yesterday was mistaken. And over the years since I left the BBC I have never gone public criticising the leadership of the BBC and the decisions they take, because I know what a difficult job it is, and difficult decisions have to be taken.
Players will not be asked to take part in Match of the Day interviews, says PFA
A spokesman for the Professional Footballers’ Association, the footballers’ union, has announced players will not be asked to take part in BBC interviews for Match of the Day tonight.
We have been informed that players involved in today’s games will not be asked to participate in interviews with Match of the Day.
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.
During those conversations we made clear that, as their union, we would support all members who might face consequences for choosing not to complete their broadcast commitments.
This is a common sense decision that ensures players won’t now be put in that position.
Updated
Alex Scott says she will not present Football Focus
BBC football presenter and former England player Alex Scott has said she will not be presenting Football Focus on Saturday, amid reports the BBC has pulled the show.
In a tweet, she 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.. Hopefully I will be back in the chair next week.
Kelly Somers also said she would not be hosting Football Focus.
She tweeted: “Just to confirm I won’t be on BBC television today.”
The move comes after after Gary Lineker was suspended on Friday from the BBC for breaching impartiality guidelines after criticising the government’s asylum policies.
Match of the Day, meanwhile, will be broadcast without presenters, pundits or its usual commentators this weekend.
In a dramatic and unexpected escalation of a crisis that has been brewing all week, the corporation took the decision to remove its highest-paid presenter from its flagship football show after he was criticised by Tory MPs and the rightwing media.
His suspension immediately led to displays of solidarity from Lineker’s co-hosts Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, who publicly announced that they would not be turning up to present Saturday’s show.
We’ll bring you the latest reaction and developments on the ongoing fallout from Lineker’s suspension.
Updated
