Talk about an own goal. It seems that Gary Lineker’s increasingly aggressive anti-Tory tweets have got the multimillionaire into hot water with nervy BBC managers. Earlier this week, Lineker compared the language used by the government over its plan to tackle Channel crossings to ‘that used by Germany in the 30s’. Today it has been announced that the former England star has been asked to step back from presenting Match of the Day until an agreement reached has been reached on social media use. You might be waiting some time Gary…
In a statement, a spokesman for the BBC said:
The BBC has been in extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days. We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines. The BBC has decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media. When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none. We have never said that Gary should be an opinion free zone, or that he can’t have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies.
So much for Alastair Campbell’s spinning efforts. A ‘source close’ to Lineker has told Sky that he has not agreed to step back from MOTD and claims that the BBC has taken him off air. It’s understood that Lineker is unwilling to apologise for his tweets and admit he should not have posted them. And his revelation prompted a slew of others to say that if Lineker wasn’t on air, they wouldn’t present either. Lineker’s co-star Ian Wright kicked off proceedings, tweeting:
Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity.
And he was followed by presenters Alex Scott, Alan Shearer and Jermaine Jenas, who have all said they won’t appear on the programme tomorrow. But in the most recent turn of events, it turns out that, in fact, nobody will after the BBC’s most recent announcement: that tomorrow’s Match of the Day will take place – minus a presenter. The Beeb has just released the following statement:
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. We understand their position… the programme will focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry
Labour is already trying to make political capital out of the row, with Lucy Powell, the party’s culture spokesman, declaring that it ‘feels like an over reaction brought on by a right-wing media frenzy obsessed with undermining the BBC.’ A Labour source has briefed the press that:
The BBC’s cowardly decision to take Gary Lineker off air is an assault on free speech in the face of political pressure. Tory politicians lobbying to get people sacked for disagreeing with government policies should be laughed at, not pandered to. The BBC should rethink their decision.
Come in number nine, your time’s up…
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