The BBC’s flagship football highlights show match of the Day The Saturday was cut short by pundits and commentators after the presenter pulled Gary Lineker It was taken off air by the corporation. On Friday, Lineker was asked to step back from his role since 1999 after the former England striker’s comparison sparked a fairness controversy. UK government rhetoric in dealing with illegal immigration in Nazi-era Germany. Read more
First broadcast in 1964, Match of the Day is the world’s longest running football television program and has become a cultural phenomenon in Britain. For the first time it was broadcast without presenters, pundits or even commentary with only crowd noise, with 20-minute highlights packages from six Premier League games, one hour short of the scheduled start time. The programme’s famous theme tune was also dropped for the intro apologizing to viewers for the closed shows.
But what is controversy? News18 explains:
What did Lineker say?
Lineker was forced to “step back” from his duties of presenting the flagship Premier League highlights show after the UK government was accused of using Nazi-era rhetoric in its handling of illegal immigration. Read more
The controversy began with a dramatic video titled “Enough is Enough” by Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Legislation that would prevent unauthorized immigrants from living in the nation. Braverman said such immigrants would be deported back to their home nation or to a “safe third country like Rwanda”.
Gary Lineker, who had previously housed refugees in his home, tweeted in response, “Oh my god, this is beyond horrible.” When someone replied to his tweet, reminding him that he was “irregular”, Lineker said: “There is no big flow. We take in far fewer refugees than other major European countries. An extremely brutal policy directed at the most vulnerable is language not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?
But the BBC said on Friday that England’s fourth-highest goalscorer had breached guidelines on fairness and that the corporation would seek “an agreed and clear position on his use of social media” before returning on-screen. Scheduled sporting events in the BBC’s television and radio output.
Former England strikers Ian Wright and Alan Shearer were among the pundits who refused to take up their usual roles on Match of the Day, followed by the programme’s commentators.
As a result, the longest-running football television program in the world was broadcast for the first time without a presenter, pundit or commentary in a 20-minute highlights package of six matches from the English top flight., Weekend preview show Football Focus and results program Final Score were also pulled from the schedule, while BBC Radio 5Live’s coverage was disrupted.
BBC chief said, hoping for a solution
BBC Director General Tim Davey said he would not resign. In a BBC interview, Davy said, “Everyone wants to resolve the situation peacefully.”
“I recognize that my job is to serve license-fee payers and deliver a BBC that is focused on truly world-class unbiased landmark output, and I look forward to resolving this position and delivering that.
He added: “To be clear, success for me is getting Gary back on the air and together we are delivering world-class sports coverage to viewers which, as I say, I am sorry we were unable to deliver today.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he hoped the standoff could be resolved “in a time-bound manner.”
Who is Gary Lineker?
Gary Lineker rose to fame as a goalscoring hero for England at the World Cup before becoming the dominant face of sports broadcasting for the BBC over the past two decades.
Born in Leicester in 1960, Lineker achieved his boyhood dream by turning professional with his home town club. He scored over 100 goals in six years at the Foxes and was later honored as a Freeman of Leicester City.
An AFP report stated that his goalscoring ability in a team that did not compete for trophies at the top of the English game had seen him ousted by then champions Everton in 1985. In just one season on Merseyside, Lineker was again the league’s top scorer as Everton narrowly missed out on a league and cup double to local rivals Liverpool.
The 1986 World Cup was about to raise Lineker’s profile to a new level.
His six goals, before England’s highly controversial quarter-final loss to Argentina, won him the Golden Boot ahead of Diego Maradona. His performances attracted the attention of Barcelona, who paid a huge sum at the time of £2.8 million ($3.4 million) for his services.
Lineker spent three years at the Camp Nou and was nicknamed “El Matador” for his violent finishing. On the field he won the Copa del Rey in 1988 and the Cup Winners’ Cup a year later, but the highlight of his time in Catalonia was scoring a hat-trick in a 3–2 win over Real Madrid in 1987.
Lineker is also a fluent Spanish speaker, thanks to his spell at Barcelona and presenting live matches for La Liga TV’s English channel. He returned to England in 1989 when Tottenham beat out Manchester United for his signature and finally won a trophy in English football when Spurs lifted the 1991 FA Cup.
In between there was more pain at the 1990 World Cup as England lost to Germany in the last four on penalties, despite Lineker scoring four goals, including one in the semi-finals. The final phase of his club career was a short stint in Japan with Grampus Eight before retiring in 1994.
His rise to the top of sports broadcasting began with appearances on BBC radio and TV as a pundit. He took over as host of Match of the Day in 1999 and also fronted BBC coverage of other major events such as the Olympic Games.
Lineker’s refugee stance
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 willingness to speak out on political matters has made him more difficult for BBC bosses because of the corporation’s commitment to neutrality.
Lineker has hosted refugees in her home and in 2016 described the treatment of refugees in Britain as “disgustingly racist and completely heartless”.
In a public spat with BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew in 2018 over tweets about the Brexit process, Lineker posted: “I will continue to tweet what I like and if people disagree with me, so be it.”
His stand has reached breaking point this week, but the respect with which Lineker is held by his colleagues has proved an additional 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 a landmark BBC show in disarray.
with inputs from afp
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