Gary Lineker TWEET Saga: Gary Linekar SACKED – Ian Wright and Alan Shearer have thrown their support for Gary Lineker, by refusing to appear on the BBC’s Match of the Day this weekend. Moreover, Micah Richards, Jermaine Jenas, and Alex Scott have join hands in ruling themselves out of appearing on the show. Lineker was earlier told to ‘step back’ from presenting Match of the Day following his tweet, where he criticized the government’s asylum policy. The former England International compared the government’s language in launching the policy with 1930s Germany. Follow Premier League LIVE Updates on Insidesport.IN
Former England Internationals Wright and Shearer, who appears alongside Lineker on the show and have made their stance clear in a sign of ‘Solidarity’, and it is not clear who will replace them.
“I have informed the BBC that I won’t be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night,” Shearer said.
Meanwhile, Wright’s tweets confirm his stance, ‘”Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity.”
Gary Lineker TWEET Saga: BBC’s Match of the Day to air without pundits or presenters, after Alan Shearer and Ian Wright also opt out in protest of Linekar’s booting by BBC
The BBC later confirmed there will be no presenter or pundits on Match of the Day this weekend, as a BBC 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.’ he also added, ‘We understand their position and we decided that the programme will focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry’
Sky News are reporting that Lineker has been pulled off the air, rather than being asked to step back. Furthermore, no other pundits are reluctant to appear on the highlights show following the BBC’s decision.
The BBC’s released statement on Friday afternoon states, ‘We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines.’ Also added, ‘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.’
Gary Lineker TWEET Saga: BBC’s Match of the Day to air without pundits or presenters, after Alan Shearer and Ian Wright also opt out in protest of Linekar’s booting by BBC
The decision has brought much debate as to what will happen to show ahead of this weekend.
Alex Scott, who is scheduled to host the Saturday lunchtime programme Football Focus, tweeted a GIF which states, ‘Nah, not me.’ Also, Michah Richards said, ‘I was not due to be working on MOTD tomorrow, but if I was, I would find myself taking the same decision that Ian Wright and Alan Shearer have.’
Former Tottenham midfielder Jenas later added, ‘I wasn’t down to be doing Match of the Day tomorrow, but if I was I would [have] said no and stood with my fellow pundits.’
While former Manchester United captain Gary Neville supports Wright to avoid appearing on Match of the Day by replying to the tweet with ‘You’re more than good.’
Gary Lineker TWEET Saga: BBC’s Match of the Day to air without pundits or presenters, after Alan Shearer and Ian Wright also opt out in protest of Linekar’s booting by BBC
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