Gary Lineker agreed it was "good to be back" on the BBC to present Manchester City's FA Cup tie against Burnley on Match of the Day Live after stepping back from presenting last weekend in a controversial row over broadcaster's impartiality rules. The former England and Leicester City footballer came under fire for comparing the language used by the government in their asylum plans to 'that used by Germany in the 30s' in a tweet.
On Friday the BBC announced that he would take a break from presenting its flagship show Match of the Day until an “agreed and clear position” on his use of social media had been reached. Match Of The Day went ahead on Saturday night in almost silence without a presenter, pundits and regular commentators.
Co-stars Alan Shearer and Ian Wright announced they would be boycotting the show in solidarity with Gary with the BBC's sporting schedule thrown into disarray. And fellow host Micah Richards tweeted: "I was not due to be working on MOTD tomorrow, but if I was, I would find myself taking the same decision that @IanWright0 & @alanshearer have."
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Last Saturday night's football highlights programme was screened in a much shorter time of just 20 minutes. The show was aired with a very different look, and sound, following an apology from an announcer. The show was almost silent without a presenter, pundits and regular commentators, and its regular theme tune was dropped.
By the start of this week, a decision was made to reinstate Gary and apologise for the fallout. As he kicked off his first live appearance since the row, co-star Alan apologised.
Before the action got underway he said: "I just wanted to clear up and wanted to say how upset we were about all the audiences that missed out last weekend. It was a really difficult situation for everyone concerned and through no fault of their own, some really great people in TV and in radio were put in an impossible situation, that wasn’t fair."
And he added: "It's good to get back to some sort of normality and be talking about football again." And Gary, who was also joined in the studio by Micah Richards, said: "Absolutely, I echo those sentiments" before moving on to discuss the live game at the Etihad Stadium.
But viewers were distracted by Gary's hoarse-sounding voice as they flocked to Twitter to express concern and send well-wishes. @PenryTJ tweeted: "Sounds like you’ve got a sore throat mate, get well soon. Great to hear Micah laughing so raucously again."
@barrowofsmiles asked: "Are you ok @GaryLineker? Lovely to see you back but you sound as if you’ve got a sore throat." @rob_baggies said: "Sounds like you have a throat infection."
@BenThomWood told him: "Get well soon @GaryLineker, seems like you’ve got a sore throat tonight there or a cold which has come up from your chest?" @djspeedy34 exclaimed: "Blimey @GaryLineker sounds like Tina Turner he must have a sore throat."
@mcfadzean_neil messaged: "Need to rest that throat of yours, sounding a bit rough bud..." And @McgranaghanSue said he sounded like he was "struggling to speak." "Sounds like a sore throat - hope he doesn’t lose his voice completely as that would be awkward," tweeted Sue.
On Monday the BBC announced that it had reached an agreement to allow Gary to return to our screens. Director general Tim Davie said that the corporation has commissioned an independent review of its social media guidelines, particularly for freelancers.
Mr Davie apologised for what he acknowledged had been 'a difficult period for staff, contributors, presenters and, most importantly, our audiences' and described the BBC’s commitment to freedom of expression and impartiality as a 'difficult balancing act'.
He said: "The potential confusion caused by the grey areas of the BBC’s social media guidance that was introduced in 2020 is recognised. I want to get matters resolved and our sport content back on air."
After the BBC released its statement, Gary tweeted that he was 'delighted' to have navigated a way through the row after a 'surreal few days'. He said: "I have been presenting sport on the BBC for almost three decades and am immeasurably proud to work with the best and fairest broadcaster in the world. I cannot wait to get back in the MOTD chair on Saturday."
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