BBC Premier League Output In Meltdown As Mutinous Stars Walkout Over Gary Lineker

The BBC’s Premier League output is in freefall as mutinous presenters and pundits stage a protest over the suspension of Gary Lineker.

The British broadcaster took the unprecedented step of standing down Lineker on Friday afternoon over a politically-charged tweet, but the decision has backfired spectacularly.

In a breathless few hours on Saturday, the BBC’s television and radio output was left in tatters after a string of stars showed their solidarity for Lineker by refusing to work. Here’s what has happened:

BBC1 shows Football Focus and Final Score have been replaced by repeats of Bargain Hunt and The Repair Shop after hosts Alex Scott and Jason Mohammad joined the protest.
As of midday UK time on Saturday, the BBC was planning to show flagship Premier League highlights show Match of the Day without presenters, pundits, and commentators, but insiders increasingly think it could collapse. “I can’t see how it’s going to be able to go out tonight,” said one.
BBC Radio 5 Live’s schedule was obliterated as live sport coverage was replaced by podcast repeats. Colin Murray and Mark Chapman were among the presenters who were no-shows.
Premier League players will not be giving interviews to the BBC on Saturday after they indicated that they wanted to boycott Match of the Day in support of Lineker.
Lineker is yet to even comment on his suspension. He was filmed leaving his house on Saturday, but only offered salutations to the press mob camped outside his property.
A petition calling for Lineker to be reinstated by the BBC has amassed more than 150,000 signatures.

The events are unprecedented and unsustainable, stemming from a single tweet, in which Lineker compared government rhetoric on asylum seekers to Nazi Germany.

The BBC said the tweet broke social media rules on impartiality, but sources close to Lineker, the corporation’s highest-paid presenter, said he stood by the post’s accuracy and would not apologize.

BBC journalists are held to a higher standard of impartiality than non-news presenters like Lineker, though all have been told that their social media activity “can affect perceptions of the BBC’s impartiality.”

Lineker was deemed to have broken BBC impartiality rules last October after tweeting his views on the Conservative Party accepting donations from Russia. The BBC said Lineker had “additional responsibility” because of his high profile and reminded him that employees should “avoid taking sides on party political issues or political controversies.”

Announcing Lineker’s suspension on Friday, the BBC said: “The BBC has been in extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days. We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines.

“The BBC has decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.

“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.”