Gary Lineker has hit back after being accused of mocking football fans by reading out the recent scores on Match of the Day amid backlash to the axed Saturday night football results on Radio 5 Live.
The BBC highlights programme began on Saturday night with a round-up of last week’s Premier League results. Lineker, who read them out, said after he'd finished: "Just in case you couldn’t find the scores anywhere else last week." The decision to stop reading out the classified results on Saturday evening, a tradition that had stood the test of time, has not been well received.
Lineker has copped criticism for his actions, but clearly doesn't buy the frustration. The broadcaster responded to a post on social media by saying: "Snowflakes". It comes after the former England star was accused of "arrogance" and being "patronising".
The BBC has been forced to defend its decision after legendary figures like John Motson and Mark Lawrenson, who said in the Daily Mail : "The reading of the football results at 5pm on a Saturday is part of the BBC’s heritage. To do away with it is absolute madness and I am beside myself about it. What a joke.
"What really winds me up is that somebody from the BBC sports department has actually agreed to this. They have thought it is a good idea. How can anyone even think that?"
The company claims "there are good reasons for the change" as they were forced to condense their show, but assured people that there were still ways fans could keep up to date with results whilst also covering a range of sports.
A statement read: "We appreciate the strength of feeling towards the classified football results within Sports Report. It's always difficult when a programme with a special history changes, but there are good reasons for the change.
"With the addition of the 5.30pm live Premier League match to our coverage, Sports Report has been condensed into a shorter programme - cut from 1 hour to 25 minutes. The classifieds were taking around 5-7 minutes to read, which would have taken up around a third of the programme - constraining the range of sport we could cover.
"We'd like to assure our listeners that results from across the football leagues will still be shared during the programme and through the afternoon. Results are also available in full on the BBC Sport website and during Final Score on BBC One. Having a live match at 5.30 is a great addition to the 5 Live schedule."
