Freedom of speech:
BBC axes Lineker after controversial tweet
Veteran English footballer and Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker was stood down from anchoring the Premier League highlights show Match of the Day (MOTD) after refusing to back down from a tweet strongly condemning the government’s language concerning refugees.
Lineker reportedly “wept” after learning that his fellow pundits at Premier League highlights show were prepared to boycott Saturday’s show over the presenter’s row with the BBC.
He likened language used by government ministers to Nazi Germany. The 62-year-old initially hoped to host Match of the Day as normal but was stood down on Friday evening.
The BBC announced that Lineker had been removed from Saturday’s show until a position on his social media use had been agreed. It is understood that the former England striker is unwilling to back down on his view.
Saturday’s Match of the Day went ahead without a presenter, pundits and several regular commentators.
The row was sparked by Lineker’s response on Twitter to a Home Office video in which Home Secretary Suella Braverman unveiled the government’s plans to stop migrants crossing the Channel on small boats.
Lineker wrote: “There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.
“This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the ’30s.”
Lineker’s effective axing from Saturday’s show prompted an exodus of pundits and commentators. Ian Wright was first to reveal that he would boycott, with fellow regular Alan Shearer adding that he would take the same stance.
According to the Sun, Lineker “wept” and was “overwhelmed” by the reaction. A source told the newspaper that he was unaware that his studio guests were prepared to back him with such a strong show of support.
They are quoted as saying, “This has been a tumultuous 24 hours. Gary is in shock and had no idea this was coming. He wanted to go on air, make no bones about it, this was not his decision. Privately, everyone at the Beeb is in meltdown too. They genuinely don’t know how they will get a show out because no one wants to touch it.”
Former England footballer Ian Wright said on his podcast that he is “out” and “gone” if the BBC “get rid” of Gary Lineker.
In an episode of Wrighty’s House, aired on Friday before Lineker was told to step back from presenting MOTD, Wright called the tweet row “the perfect distraction” for the government.
In the Friday episode of Wrighty’s House, the podcast’s host said, “I’ll tell you something. If they do – the BBC get rid of Gary Lineker – I’m out, I’m gone. I’m not staying there. On his own platform he should be able to say what he wants to say.”
Explaining the row, Wright said, “He wrote a tweet criticizing the government about everything that’s happening, the human rights issues and everything here and it’s the perfect distraction for this Government, man.
“Gary’s tweet was the headline news, bro.”
He went on, “They need Gary Lineker to distract everybody because for me it is a human issue, it’s not political.
“Gary Lineker, he retweeted from a German professor about – because the Hitler thing is what they all jumped on and everything like that. He retweeted saying that it all starts with language, it starts with words, they don’t just start throwing people into concentration camps, it starts with words and language.”
Wright said the “culture war” is the “distraction”.