BBC television’s flagship football programme was in meltdown on Saturday after pundits and commentators refused to work in support of presenter Gary Lineker, who was forced to “step back” after accusing the government of using Nazi-era rhetoric.
Match of the Day presenter Lineker, England’s fourth most prolific goalscorer, sparked an impartiality row by criticising the British government’s new policy on tackling illegal immigration.
The 62-year-old compared the language used to launch the new policy to that of Nazi-era Germany on Twitter, which the BBC said on Friday was 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,” the broadcaster said in a statement.
Pundits and former England strikers Ian Wright and Alan Shearer immediately tweeted that they would not take part either, followed by the programme’s commentators.
The BBC announced that the highlights show, a Saturday night fixture since 1964 and the longest-running football television programme in the world, would air without pundits or a presenter for the first time.
It also said players would not be asked for interviews after some indicated they would not be available in support of Lineker.
Adding to the chaos, presenters and pundits also pulled out of the daytime “Football Focus” and “Final Score” programmes.
– ‘Immeasurably cruel’ –
The row was sparked by Lineker’s response to a video in which Home Secretary Suella Braverman unveiled plans to stop migrants crossing the Channel on small boats.
Lineker, the BBC’s highest-paid star, wrote on Twitter: “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.”
The Conservative government intends to outlaw asylum claims by all illegal arrivals and transfer them elsewhere, such as Rwanda, in a bid to stop the crossings, which totalled more than 45,000 last year.
Stopping the boats is the “people’s priority”, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons earlier this week.
A YouGov poll published on Monday showed 50 percent backing the measures, with 36 percent opposed.
But rights groups and the United Nations said the legislation would make Britain an international outlaw under European and UN conventions on asylum.
The BBC’s move sparked a wave of criticism from politicians and public figures, many of whom accused it of buckling to demands from Conservative politicians.
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