The British Broadcasting Corporation sparked one of the biggest crises after suspending top sports commentator Gary Lineker for criticising the UK government, leading to a staff rebellion.
Lineker criticised the British government’s new asylum policy this week on Twitter, comparing the rhetoric used to that of Nazi-era Germany.
The row was sparked by Lineker’s response on Twitter to a video in which Home Secretary Suella Braverman unveiled plans to stop migrants crossing the Channel on small boats.
Lineker, 62, 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."
Good heavens, this is beyond awful. https://t.co/f0fTgWXBwp— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) March 7, 2023
The Conservative government intends to outlaw asylum claims by all illegal arrivals and transfer them elsewhere, such as Rwanda, in a bid to stop thousands of migrants from crossing the Channel on small boats.
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, and I’m out of order?— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) March 7, 2023
The 62-year-old was told by the publicly-funded British broadcaster to “step back" on Friday from his role presenting its flagship football highlights show “Match of the Day" due to an impartiality row.
The BBC said it considered Lineker’s “recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines” and said he “should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies.”
The move lead several sports presenters and Match of the Day pundits, including Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, to withdraw from the programme in support for the ex-Barcelona and Tottenham star.
The walkout meant that the “Match of the Day” soccer show on Saturday would have no pundit analysis for the first time since the program first aired in 1964. It would instead air a series of highlights from the Premier League, according to Wall Street Journal.
The BBC issued an apology for the disruption to its “limited sports programming this weekend” and said it would resolve the issue soon.
Former BBC journalists said that the organisation undermined its credibility by ordering Lineker off the air.
Greg Dyke, former head of the BBC, said it had “undermined its credibility” by ordering Lineker off the air and creating a perception it was bowing to government pressure.
“I do think the BBC has made a mistake here,” he told BBC radio. “And over 20 years since I left the BBC, I have never publicly criticized the leadership of the BBC because I know it’s a difficult job.”
Lineker is the corporation’s highest-paid presenter with an annual salary of £1.35 million, according to figures published last year, despite working as a freelancer rather than a BBC employee.
As a player, Lineker boasted an impeccable disciplinary record as he never received a yellow or red card during his 16-year career.
But his desire to speak out on political matters has made him much more difficult for BBC bosses to handle due to the corporation’s commitment to impartiality.
Lineker has hosted refugees in his home and in 2016 criticised treatment of refugees in the UK as being “hideously racist and utterly heartless".
In a public spat with the BBC’s cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew in 2018 over tweets about the Brexit process, Lineker posted: “I’ll continue to tweet what I like and if folk disagree with me then so be it."
That stance reached breaking point this week, but the esteem with which Lineker is held by his colleagues has proved an extra headache for the BBC hierarchy.
One-by-one leading pundits and commentators have pulled out of Saturday’s Match of the Day in a show of solidarity, leaving one of the BBC’s landmark shows in disarray.
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