BBC mistaken to suspend Gary Lineker, ex-director general says

A former head of the BBC has said it was a mistake to take Gary Lineker off air following the presenter's criticism of government asylum policy.

Greg Dyke's comments come as the BBC's flagship football show Match of the Day descended into crisis, with staff withdrawing in support of Lineker.

The show's six main pundits and its entire commentary team have stepped back from Saturday's programme.

Mr Dyke said the BBC "undermined its own credibility" by suspending Lineker.

"There is a long established precedent in the BBC that if you are an entertainment presenter or a sports presenter then you are not bound by those same rules," Mr Dyke - who served as director general between 2000 and 2004 - told the BBC's Today programme.

"The real problem today is that the BBC has undermined its own credibility by doing this," he said, adding that the move could create the impression that the "BBC has bowed to government pressure".

Mr Dyke's comments came as the organisation faced further withdrawals from its broadcast coverage of Saturday's English football fixtures.

Ex-Arsenal and Lionesses captain Alex Scott has pulled out of presenting the Football Focus programme in solidarity with Mr Lineker. The programme was subsequently withdrawn from Saturday's BBC1 schedule.

Her withdrawal followed the decisions by the pundits Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, along with six commentators, not to appear on Saturday evening's Match of the Day.

The growing boycott forced the BBC to issue a statement on Friday saying the highlights programme would air "without studio presentation or punditry" and instead "focus on match action".

In a later statement, a spokesperson said: "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 and we have decided that the programme will focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry."

Meanwhile, the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) has confirmed that players and managers from the 12 Premier League clubs playing matches on Saturday will not receive requests for MOTD post-match interviews.

"The PFA have been speaking to members who wanted to take a collective position and to be able to show their support for those who have chosen not to be part of tonight's programme," the PFA said in a statement.

Ian Wright was the first pundit to say publicly that he would not appear on Saturday's programme, 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."

Former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer, who also appears on the show, then said he had "informed the BBC that I won't be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night".

Lineker has not yet publicly commented on the latest developments, but while presenting on Channel 5 on Friday, former BBC presenter Dan Walker read out a text live on air from the 62-year-old.

Walker said he had messaged Lineker asking: "What is happening. Are you stepping back?"

He said he had received a reply saying: "No, they've [the BBC] told me I have to step back."

BBC News has been told that the Match of the Day production team were not told in advance about its decision.

The row began on Tuesday, when Home Secretary Suella Braverman outlined the government's plans to ban people arriving in the UK illegally from ever claiming asylum, in a bid to address a rise in the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats.

Lineker reacted to it on Twitter calling it 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 has hosted Match of the Day since 1999 and is the BBC's highest paid star, having earned about £1.35m in 2020-21. He is employed by the BBC on a freelance basis.

In the statement announcing he would not be presenting MOTD, the BBC said: "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."

Speaking to the Today Programme, former director general Greg Dyke said the BBC had "undermined its own credibility" by suspending the presenter and created an impression it had "bowed to government pressure".

Dyke added that the ongoing controversy surrounding BBC Chairman Richard Sharp and allegations that he helped facilitate a loan to former Prime Minster Boris Johnson had helped fuel perceptions that the organisation was failing to stand up to government pressure.

Richard Ayre, former controller of editorial policy at the BBC, said the corporation had "no choice" but to take action against Lineker.

He told BBC Radio 4's PM programme the corporation's Director General Tim Davie had "clearly tried" to reach an agreement with Lineker but failed, adding: "It's inevitable now that having in effect not sacked him but removed him temporarily at least, the BBC will now come under a torrent of criticism saying it's acting under the government's behest."

Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy wrote on social media it was "chilling" to see "a great public broadcaster cowering to right wing fanatics".

"Our democracy is made of tougher stuff than this," he wrote, adding the BBC should "get a grip" and put Gary Lineker back on Match of the Day "where he belongs".

In a statement, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "Individual cases are a matter for the BBC."