BBC Crisis Escalates as Players, Stars Rally Behind Lineker

Date: 11 March 2023 - 21:45

News ID: ۱۱۳۲۳۹

LONDON (AP) – The BBC faced an escalating crisis Saturday over its suspension of former soccer star and program host Gary Lineker for comments criticizing the British government’s new asylum policy.
As a growing number of players and presenters rallied to Lineker’s support, Britain’s national broadcaster faced allegations of political bias and suppressing free speech, as well as praise from some Conservative politicians.
Presenters of the BBC’s lunchtime “Football Focus” said they would not appear on the program in solidarity with Lineker, who was suspended from hosting highlights show “Match of the Day” over a Twitter post that compared lawmakers’ language about migrants to that used in Nazi Germany.
The BBC pulled “Football Focus” from its schedule on Saturday, replacing it with an episode of antiques show “Bargain Hunt.”
After a slew of Lineker’s colleagues announced they wouldn’t appear on the show without him, the BBC said “Match of the Day” would be aired Saturday without presenters or pundits.
There will not be any post-match player interviews, either. The Professional Footballers’ Association said some players wanted to boycott the show as a gesture of support, and as a result “players involved in today’s games will not be asked to participate in interviews with ‘Match of The Day.’”
The union said it was a “common sense solution” to avoid players facing sanctions for breaching their broadcast commitments.
Play-by-play commentators scheduled to work games on Saturday also said they would not do so.
“Match of the Day,” which is broadcast on Saturday nights and shows highlights of Premier League games played that day, has been a national institution since the 1960s. Lineker, its chief presenter since 1999, is the network’s highest-paid star, as well as one of English soccer’s most lauded players.
The controversy began with a tweet on Tuesday from Lineker’s account — which has 8.7 million followers — describing the government’s plan to detain and deport migrants arriving by boat as “an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.”
The Conservative government called Lineker’s Nazi comparison offensive and unacceptable, and some lawmakers said he should be fired.
On Friday, the BBC said the 62-year-old Lineker would “step back” from “Match of the Day” until “we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.” Lineker has yet to comment publicly.
The 100-year-old BBC, which is funded by a license fee paid by all households with a television, has a duty to be impartial in its news coverage, and BBC news staff are barred from expressing political opinions.