BBC in Turmoil as Revolt Over Gary Lineker’s ‘Match of the Day’ Suspension Spreads

Mr. Lineker, a former captain of England’s national soccer team and the top goal scorer at the 1986 World Cup, ignited a firestorm on the political right after he suggested on Tuesday that the British home secretary, Suella Braverman, was using language reminiscent of Nazi Germany to promote a plan to stop asylum seekers who arrive on boats across the English Channel.

After several days of debate played out on social media, in the pages of British newspapers and in the halls of Parliament, the BBC said on Friday that Mr. Lineker’s social media activity was “a breach of our guidelines,” and that he had been suspended from hosting “Match of the Day,” a fixture of the BBC’s broadcast schedule since 1964.

“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,” the BBC said in a statement.

“When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none,” the statement said. “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.”

“Match of the Day” features highlights from the weekend’s Premier League soccer games interspersed with commentary from former stars and interviews with players and coaches, but to label it simply a highlights show vastly understates its place in Britain as a beloved cultural touchstone. “Match of the Day” is so integral to the way English fans catch up on the day’s soccer results, in fact, that the national news broadcasts that precede it warn viewers to look away from their screens before the scores are shown wordlessly — lest they spoil the drama to follow.

Soon after the BBC issued the statement about Mr. Lineker’s absence, the two other former star players who host the show alongside him each week, Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, said they had told the BBC that they would not appear on the show on Saturday.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/world/europe/gary-lineker-tweet-match-of-the-day.html