The BBC has apologised to its staff over its sports programming this weekend, in a letter which has been leaked online.
The publicly funded broadcaster's sports coverage was thrown into chaos as several pundits and presenters pulled out of Match of the Day and Football Focus in retaliation to the BBC's handling of Gary Lineker.
Radio 5Live's football coverage has also been scrapped as commentators, journalists and many more refused to take part in solidarity to Lineker.
Last night it was announced that MOTD presenter Gary, 62, would not be fronting the show this weekend as he was asked to "take a step back" from his hosting duties until the BBC "agree a clear position on his use of social media".
The move was in reaction to a tweet the former England footballer shared, in which he condemned the Tories' proposed immigration policy and appeared to draw comparisons with Nazi Germany.
As Gary shared a video fo Suella Braverman discussing the policy, he wrote on Twitter: "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."
The BBC's decision has sparked furious backlash, leaving the broadcaster to reported apologies to its staff.
The apology letter, leaked by The Times’ chief football writer Henry Winter, is signed by the corporation's director of sport Barbara Slater.
It read: "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. Barbara."
Meanwhile, BBC boss Tim Davie also issued a apology as he told BBC News: "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 did not go into detail about the discussions with Lineker in the lat 24 hours. He added: "Everyone wants to calmly resolve the situation. Gary Lineker’s the best in the business - that’s not for debate."
