Gary Lineker will make his return to television on Friday night, but it won’t be as part of his main role at the BBC.
The beloved Match of the Day anchor is set to return to hosting duties this weekend after he was taken off air by the publicly-funded broadcaster. Lineker was temporarily suspended by the BBC in light of social media posts criticising the Government's Illegal Migration Bill.
He is due to front BBC’s coverage of the FA Cup quarter final between Manchester City and Burnley, with Mark Chapman sitting in on the Premier League highlights show.
But before that, Lineker will appear on Viaplay Sports as part of their preview for the weekend’s LaLiga coverage. The former Barcelona striker will join Clarence Seedorf and David Villa as they look forward to the El Clasico with Real Madrid.
The 63-year-old branded the bill as “beyond awful” and compared the language used as “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”. Furious bosses attempted to make him apologise for comments, before he was ‘stepped back’ 24 hours before Match of the Day was due to air.
In the aftermath, a number of his colleagues confirmed they would not be taking part in the flagship highlights programme in an act of solidarity. That forced the corporation to offer a vastly stripped back sporting output, including a Match of the Day programme reduced to 20 minutes without commentary, punditry or presentation.
Crisis talks then saw BBC chiefs complete a U-turn, with Lineker welcomed back on Monday morning. In a statement, it was confirmed a review of employee’s social media use - in relation to impartiality - would be conducted.
“I am glad that we have found a way forward. I support this review and look forward to getting back on air,” Lineker said on Monday.
In the wake of his return to BBC, Lineker has continued to passionately fight for refugees and those seeking asylum from persecution. “However difficult the last few days have been, it simply doesn’t compare to having to flee your home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a land far away,” he posted on Twitter.
And the presenter’s agent, Jon Holmes, has confirmed that his client was under the impression he had the freedom to tweet as he wished. “Gary takes a passionate interest in refugees and immigration and, as he saw it, had a special agreement with Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, to tweet about these issues,” Holmes wrote in the New Statesman on Wednesday.
Holmes was also involved in those crunch talks which saw Lineker reinstated and revealed he initially told BBC chiefs that standing him down was the worst possible option. “They asked me how the matter could be resolved, I told them taking Gary off the air would not be helpful and we needed to clarify the guidelines."
He added: “BBC guidelines on social media use for staff and freelancers are – let us say – a bit vague. If Gary said ‘vote communist’, or ‘vote Liberal’, or ‘vote Brexit ’, would it make any difference?”
