Match of the Day will air without a presenter or pundits on Saturday evening after Gary Lineker was told to step back from presenting the show, prompting widespread withdrawal from his colleagues.
The BBC announced on Friday evening that Lineker would not be presenting the flagship Saturday night Premier League highlights show in the aftermath of his criticism of the UK government.
Lineker described the UK's recently unveiled plans to tackle asylum seekers and small boat crossings as 'beyond awful' and likened language used by the government to 'that used by Germany in the 30s'.
A spokesperson for the broadcaster said they would be having a 'frank' conversation with the former footballer regarding their impartiality conditions, and on Friday it was confirmed that Lineker would not be presenting the show until further notice. Lineker told former colleague Dan Walker in a text message that the BBC had prompted his removal from the show.
News of Lineker's absence was followed by brief statements from a number of fellow presenters and pundits including Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Alex Scott and Jermaine Jenas, all of whom said they will not partake in this week's broadcast, forcing the show to go on without any presentation.
A BBC statement read: "Some of our pundits have said 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 or punditry."
Lineker himself has not directly commented on the decision since news broke on Friday evening, with his text message read on 5News by Walker the only comment made by the former Leicester City, Barcelona and England forward.
