Common sense has prevailed - Gary Lineker will be returning to present football on the BBC.
More than 210,000 Mirror readers have signed our petition to reinstate Lineker on Match of the Day.
And - finally - BBC bosses appear to agree that their decision to take him off air was wrong.
The corporation announced on Friday that Lineker would not present Match of the Day while the fallout from his tweets criticising the government’s small boats policy was dealt with.
Their decision sparked a wave of anger from the public - including many of Lineker’s BBC colleagues.
Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Alex Scott and match commentators pulled out of the iconic Saturday highlights show throwing the BBC’s coverage into chaos.
After a surreal weekend broadcasting match action with no commentary or pundit insight, the BBC have now reinstated Lineker in time for him to present FA Cup coverage this coming weekend.
This is a victory for freedom of speech - but also for the 210,000+ Mirror readers who spoke up to defend a freelance sports presenter’s right to voice his honestly held opinion.
Mirror Editor-in-Chief Alison Phillips said: “We were overwhelmed by the number of people who joined the call to have Gary Lineker reinstated and the strength of feeling of so many.
‘’We believe that popular strength of feeling in support of Gary Lineker sent a clear message to the BBC which had come under huge pressure from those on the right who wish to silence those with a different viewpoint to their own ."
