The BBC’s football coverage on Saturday was ripped up as several more presenters and reporters withdrew in solidarity with Gary Lineker after the Match of the Day presenter was stood down on Friday.
Neither Football Focus or Final Score went ahead on BBC One, while 5 Live’s radio coverage was also radically altered throughout the day.
Former England internationals Alan Shearer and Ian Wright announced on Friday their boycott of this weekend’s highlights programme.
Here are some of the high-profile presenters and journalists who joined them on Saturday:
Alex Scott
The 38-year-old former Arsenal and England player was due to present Football Focus but said on Saturday morning that it “just doesn’t feel right going ahead with the show today”.
Scott has presented The One Show and has worked alongside Lineker in the past as a presenter of the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year programme.
She was also a contestant on one of the corporation’s flagship entertainment shows, Strictly Come Dancing, in 2019.
Kelly Somers
In the wake of Scott’s announcement, Somers was seen as a potential contender to step in and present Football Focus but posted her own message on social media to say she would not be working for the BBC on Saturday.
Somers began her career in Bournemouth’s media team before joining the Premier League.
Since going freelance she has worked for numerous broadcasters, and was the host for the BBC’s coverage of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, and covered England at Euro 2020.
Jason Mohammad
Mohammad, 49, has presented Final Score since 2013.
The Welshman joined BBC Cymru Wales in 1997 and has also worked in rugby and snooker coverage, as well as deputising for Lineker and Mark Chapman on Match of the Day and Match of the Day 2.
Dion Dublin
Former Manchester United, Coventry and Aston Villa player Dublin is a regular on Football Focus, Match of the Day and Final Score.
He was due to be part of 5 Live’s Premier League coverage on Saturday but said he would not appear in “solidarity” with his colleagues.
Dublin, 53, has built a growing media career in recent years, which extends to a presenting role on the BBC’s property show Homes Under The Hammer.
Leon Osman
Like Dublin, former Everton midfielder Osman announced he would not appear on 5 Live’s coverage as planned.
The 41-year-old is a regular pundit on the BBC, BT Sport and Sky Sports.
Colin Murray
It was not only the BBC’s Premier League coverage that was impacted on Saturday as morning talk show Fighting Talk was replaced by two football podcasts.
Murray, a former host of Match of the Day 2 who also works on the broadcaster’s music output, wrote on Twitter the decision was made “for obvious reasons” and that it was taken by “the entire FT team and myself”.
Jermain Defoe
The first sign that the boycott will extend beyond Saturday’s coverage came when former England and Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe said he would not appear on Sunday evening’s Match of the Day 2.
Reporting by Press Association.
