Gary Lineker has sought to clear up any confusion over his absence from Match of the Day on Saturday night, following his brief suspension by BBC bosses over his criticism of the government’s plan for asylum seekers.
BBC football coverage was plunged into crisis last month after Lineker was asked to step back from presenting duties, prompting his fellow presenters, pundits and commentators to withdraw from shows in solidarity. He was reinstated three days later.
In a nod to the recent row, the former England footballer wrote on Twitter in the hours before Saturday’s broadcast: “Just so there’s no misunderstanding, I won’t be doing @BBCMOTD tonight. I’m not suspended, just on holiday. Back next week.”
Among those to respond was Monty Python actor Eric Idle, who joked that he planned to “go on holiday tonight in sympathy with Gary”. Lineker shared the response to his nearly 9 million followers, captioned with laughing emojis.
It comes amid increased scrutiny of the social media output of Lineker and other BBC staff after the row prompted director-general Tim Davie to order an independent review of the broadcaster’s social media guidelines.
Reinstating Lineker last month, Mr Davie pointed to “grey areas” in the guidance introduced under his watch in 2020 and said Lineker “will abide by the editorial guidelines” until the review is complete.
While Lineker, a freelancer, is not bound by the same impartiality rules as staff journalists, BBC guidance states that its high-profile stars are expected “to avoid taking sides on party-political issues”.
The row was sparked after he described a Home Office video of Suella Braverman introducing the government’s new bill – which would ban people who arrive in Britain in small boats from ever claiming asylum in the UK – as “beyond awful”.
Replying to a Twitter user who said “it was “easy to pontificate when it doesn’t affect you”, Lineker added: “There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries. 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, and I’m out of order?”
His remarks came as the home secretary – who has previously warned of “an invasion” on the south coast – was heavily criticised over her “inflammatory” claim in parliament that 100 million potential refugees “are coming here” – despite just 89,000 people making asylum claims last year.
The presenter said earlier this week that he was “still bewildered” by the “silly” row over his comments, calling it “so disproportionate”.
“I never contemplated it would be an issue at all,” he told the Rest is Politics podcast, recalling having previously told Mr Davie that the “two things” he would “not back down on” were the refugee crisis and climate change – to which he claimed the BBC chief “agreed”.
