The fallout surrounding the Gary Lineker row continues to deepen as now BBC Radio stations are being impacted.
BBC has been forced to pull hours of Saturday sports television content at the last minute as presenters walk out on their broadcasting roles in support of Lineker.
Alex Scott, Kelly Somers and Jason Mohammad are among those presenters to walk out this morning meaning popular BBC shows Football Focus and Final Scores have had to be pulled.
Bargain Hunt was broadcast on BBC One at noon today instead of the regular Football Focus.
Now the Lineker row is having an impact on the radio with BBC 5 Live, which would normally be covering today's football matches, being forced to broadcast pre-recorded content.
The station would usually broadcast the football with commentary and punditry on a weekend.
But Fighting Talk presenter Colin Murray, earlier today said the show was not airing on 5 Live "for obvious reasons".
Talking to the BBC, a senior source said: "5 Live's sports programmes are currently being impacted and we are running recorded content."
BBC 'got this one badly wrong' says Sir Keir Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer said the BBC “caving in” to Conservative MPs in the Gary Lineker row is “the opposite of impartial”.
The Labour leader, speaking to broadcasters at Welsh Labour’s conference in Llandudno, said: “The BBC is not acting impartially by caving in to Tory MPs who are complaining about Gary Lineker.
“They got this one badly wrong and now they’re very, very exposed.
“As is the Government, because at the heart of this is the Government’s failure on the asylum system.
"And rather than take responsibility for the mess they’ve made, the Government is casting around to blame anybody else – Gary Lineker, the BBC, civil servants, the ‘blob’.
“What they should be doing is standing up, accepting they’ve broken the asylum system, and telling us what they’re going to do to actually fix it, not whingeing on about Gary Lineker.”
Another football presenter boycotts BBC role
Former England striker Jermain Defoe said he is standing down from his slot on Sunday’s Match Of The Day 2.
He is the latest pundit to pull out of BBC shows after Gary Lineker was told to step back from hosting the Saturday edition of the football highlights program in a row over a social media post.
⚽️ Match of the Day will broadcast tonight without a studio presenter, pundits and regular commentators. ➡️ Gary Lineker has been told to step back in a row over impartiality. ⬇️ Football writer Mark Ogden gave his thoughts on what might happen next. pic.twitter.com/fqSzP39hbt
— BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) March 11, 2023
Match of the Day is due to go ahead on Saturday evening without a presenter, pundits and several regular commentators, but the BBC has not said if Sunday’s version will be affected.
Defoe, via Twitter, said: “It’s always such a privilege to work with BBC MOTD.
"But tomorrow I have taken the decision to stand down from my punditry duties."
It’s always such a privilege to work with BBC MOTD. But tomorrow I have taken the decision to stand down from my punditry duties. @GaryLineker
— Jermain Defoe OBE (@IAmJermainDefoe) March 11, 2023
What did Gary Lineker say?
On Tuesday (March 7) Lineker commented on a Twitter video put out by Home Secretary Suella Braverman, in which she unveiled government plans to stop migrant boats crossing the Channel.
“Good heavens, this is beyond awful,” he wrote.
The PA news agency takes a look at the BBC’s rules on impartiality as the fallout from the decision to take @GaryLineker off-air continues pic.twitter.com/S9sFiNcz6p
— PA Media (@PA) March 11, 2023
Responding to the sports broadcaster, another Twitter user described his comment as “out of order”, adding that it was “easy to pontificate when it doesn’t affect you”.
Lineker responded: “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?”
