The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) have released a statement confirming that Premier League players will not be asked to conduct interviews with the BBC's Match of the Day. The BBC released a statement regarding their decision to take MOTD host Gary Lineker off the air from their coverage this weekend.
The ex-England international was said to have "stepped back" from the programme after controversy regarding posts on social media. Lineker made comparisons between language in the Government's new immigration policy and "Germany in the 30s", comments which resulted in him being asked to 'step back' from his role on Match of the Day.
Following the news, Arsenal legend Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, who regularly feature on the Match of the Day panel decided not to feature on the programme in a show of solidarity with Lineker - whilst commentators who cover matches for the show have also taken the decision not to feature. A spokesperson from the BBC revealed that Match of the Day will be going ahead, but with no presenters or pundits during the show: "Some of our pundits have said that they don’t wish to appear on the programme while we seek to resolve the situation with Gary," they said.
