Radio station talkSPORT have jokingly offered to let star presenter Alan Brazil replace Gary Lineker to 'save Match of the Day '.
Lineker was stood down from his role presenting the BBC's flagship Premier League highlights show on Friday. That came after he became embroiled in a row with Conservative MPs over his opposition to the government's Illegal Migration bill.
After extensive talks, the BBC opted to 'stand down' Lineker from his presenting job while they came to a new agreement on his social media activity. That decision led to a swathe of presenters, pundits, commentators and reporters pulling their availability for Saturday's programme.
Instead, Match of the Day will be broadcast without studio presentation, pundits or commentary over the highlights and will have a shortened run-time of just 19 minutes.
But talkSPORT have offered to give the BBC an iconic Lineker replacement to anchor the show on Saturday night. The station sent a billboard of breakfast show host Brazil to the broadcaster's London headquarters.
The billboard showed two messages, with the first reading "Alan Brazil is here to save the Match of the Day" above a picture of a smiling Brazil pointing upwards. The second showed Brazil celebrating with the caption: "Here comes the super sub. Alan Brazil is ready to step in".
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talkSPORT confirmed they were behind the move with a statement, which read: "Who else better to step in than our very own, the ever reliable, Alan Barnard Brazil? We sent a little invitation down to the BBC’s London headquarters, just to see if they needed a bit of a helping hand with their evening programming."
The BBC did not respond to talkSPORT's offer, though with Brazil one of the faces of the station, it certainly was not a serious move. Brazil has been a presenter on talkSPORT for more than two decades and has become an icon of the radio world.
Instead, Match of the Day viewers will be greeted by no host, no pundits, no commentators and no interviews with players or managers. The BBC's Director General has apologised for the disruption caused by the events of the past two days.
"I’m sorry audiences have been affected and they haven’t got the programming," Tim Davie told the BBC. "As a keen sports fan I know to miss programming is a real blow and I’m sorry about that.
"We are working very hard to resolve this situation and make sure we get output on air. Everyone wants to calmly resolve situation. Gary Lineker’s the best in the business - that’s not for debate."
