LAST UPDATE | 11 Mar 2023
Updated at 22.30
THE BBC CUT Saturday’s Match of the Day to 20 minutes and broadcast it without match commentary or in-studio presentation after a day of chaos at the broadcaster.
Following yesterday’s decision to suspend presenter Gary Lineker from the programme for an alleged breach of their impartiality guidelines, a succession of Lineker’s colleagues said they would not appear on the programme in solidarity. Following confirmation from Ian Wright and Alan Shearer that they would not appear on the programme, the show’s commentators agreed in unison that they would not provide match commentary.
An abbreviated version of the show went ahead, with the BBC continuity announcer apologising for being unable to show the “normal Match of the Day.” The show’s iconic theme music was not played, and consisted of a 20-minute highlights package of the day’s Premier League games without commentary, in-studio presentation, or post-match interviews.
The broadcast came at end of a day of bedlam at the BBC, in which staple shows Football Focus and Final Score were pulled from the schedule. Football Focus was due to air at midday but Bargain Hunt played in its slot while The Repair Shop is due to run instead of Final Score at 4.30pm.
Mark Chapman declined to host 5 Live Sport on BBC Radio, but live commentary of Leeds vs Brighton did go ahead, with commentator Ian Dennis providing summary of the game alone and without a co-commentator.
“It’s a very difficult time for BBC Sport and those who work in the Department, and we hope it gets resolved”, said Dennis at the beginning of the commentary. “Personally I found today very difficult, I am a BBC staff member, I am a radio commentator for Radio 5 Live, and today like every Saturday afternoon, we provide a service to you, the audience.”
Focus now switches as to whether tomorrow’s football schedule will go ahead, which includes live coverage of the top-of-the-table clash between Chelsea and Man United in the Women’s Super League along with Match of the Day 2.
It comes after Lineker, 62, was taken off air for a tweet which compared the language used to launch a new Government asylum seeker policy with 1930s Germany.
The broadcaster said it had “decided” Lineker would take a break from presenting the highlights programme until an “agreed and clear position” on his use of social media had been reached.
Meanwhile, the BBC director-general apologised on Saturday evening for the disruption caused to the broadcaster’s sports programming, but confirmed he will not resign over the Gary Lineker impartiality row.
Speaking to BBC News, Tim Davie praised Lineker as “the best in the business” and said he wants to find a “reasonable solution” to get him back on air.
“I’m very sorry for the disruption today”, said Tim Davie. “It’s been a difficult day and I’m sorry that audiences have been affected and they haven’t got the programming.
“As a keen sports fan, I know like everyone that to miss programming is a real blow and I am sorry about that.
“We are working very hard to resolve the situation and make sure that we get output back on air.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the row surrounding Gary Lineker and the BBC is “a matter for them, not the Government” as he acknowledged “not everyone will always agree” with his new asylum policy.
In a statement, Mr Sunak said: “As Prime Minister, I have to do what I believe is right, respecting that not everyone will always agree. That is why I have been unequivocal in my approach to stopping the boats.
“Gary Lineker was a great footballer and is a talented presenter. I hope that the current situation between Gary Lineker and the BBC can be resolved in a timely manner, but it is rightly a matter for them, not the Government.
Former BBC director-general Greg Dyke said the corporation had made a “mistake” and “undermined its own credibility” by taking Lineker off air.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the precedent at the corporation is that “news and current affairs employees are expected to be impartial and not the rest”.
“If you start applying the rules of news and current affairs to everybody who works for the BBC, where does it end?”, he said.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said he could not understand the BBC’s decision to stand down Lineker.
“I’m not native but I cannot see why you would ask someone to step back for saying that”, said Klopp after Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth. “I’m not sure if it is a language issue or not but that is the world we are living in.
“Everybody wants to be so concerned about doing things in the right manner, saying the right stuff. If you don’t do that then you create a s***storm, it is a really difficult world to live in.
“If I understand it right, it is a message, an opinion about human rights and that should be possible to say.
“It is not about me now showing the BBC, it is not that the guy with the BBC mic is a bad person.
“I heard about the ‘rules’ of BBC that you are not allowed to have these opinions, it is a difficult world to live in. I can’t say more.”
With reporting by Gavin Cooney
