Tonight's screening of Match of the Day has been thrown into further chaos with reports that the BBC may not have rights to use the Premier League's global commentary feed.
In a piece from David Ornstein published in the last few minutes, the Athletic claims: "The increasingly complex situation – sparked by the decision on Friday to stand down presenter Gary Lineker – means the corporation must now decide whether to air Saturday’s episode with no accompanying commentary or analysis."
The fallout follows yesterday's announcement from the BBC that Lineker would be "told to step back from presenting Match of the Day until an agreement is reached on his social media use".
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The BBC's flagship football show MOTD was thrown into crisis in the last 24 hours, after its regular commentators joined a boycott of the programme in solidarity with Lineker. On Friday afternoon, Ian Wright and Alan Shearer pulled out of Saturday's show with many other potential pundits following suit.
The row was sparked after the announcement on Tuesday of Government plans to make asylum claims inadmissible from those who make their way to Britain on "small boats". Lineker, tweeting in response to the scheme, said that it was an "immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s".
Match of the Day is currently still set to go ahead this evening, but with no host or guests. The BBC confirmed the "programme will focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry."
It was also announced that the regular commentators for Match of the Day will not be working for tonight’s episode as a show of solidarity with Lineker. There was initially a suggestion that a "world feed" service could be used instead, but the new Athletic report casts doubt on that.
Other BBC football shows have been impacted, with Football Focus and Final Score both axed today as the crisis deepens. Some 5Live Sport radio services are also believed to be under threat.
Making use of his unexpected day off, Lineker is set to be in attendance for the game between Leicester City and Chelsea which gets underway at 3pm this afternoon.
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