GARY Lineker is set to return to Match of the Day for the FA Cup next week after crunch talks with the BBC over Nazi tweet row.
The 62-year-old pundit refused to address the ongoing row over his inflammatory tweets comparing the government’s new Illegal Migration Bill to 1930s Nazi Germany, which saw him taken off air.
LNPGary Lineker is set to return to the BBC[/caption]
At around 12.30pm on Sunday, he was spotted walking his dog outside his home in Barnes, West London.
Asked whether he still wanted to work at the Beeb or if he was in talks with the director general about his future, the ex-England star simply stated: “I can’t say anything.”
Lineker was told to step back from hosting Match of the Day while bosses try to get him to agree to stop posting political messages online.
His likening of Tory immigration rhetoric and Nazi Germany sparked outrage in some quarters – with Home Secretary Suella Braverman claiming his comments diminished the tragedy of the Holocaust.
It was said to break the BBC’s strict impartiality rules which state that staff must “avoid taking sides on political controversies” and “take care when addressing public policy matters”.
BBC pundits and commentators refused to work following the backlash, deciding to support longstanding presenter Lineker.
It caused a football blackout, with several TV and radio programmes, including the Saturday edition of Match of the Day, Football Focus and Final Score, disrupted or forced off air following a boycott by figures like Ian Wright, Alan Shearer and Alex Scott.
Sunday night’s edition of MOTD2 will air – but without presenters or commentary.
The Beeb does not have the rights required to use world feed commentary, an issue that saw last night’s 20-minute broadcast go without.
Commentator Guy Mowbray tweeted: “As yesterday, there will be no ‘normal’ MOTD(2) programme tonight.
“The scheduled commentary team are in full agreement with our BBC Sport colleagues. We hope that a resolution can be found ASAP.”
Tonight’s programme will show only highlights of Manchester United vs Southampton, West Ham vs Aston Villa and Fulham vs Arsenal and Newcastle vs Wolves.
There was also no pre-game chat before this afternoon’s Women’s Super League clash between Chelsea and Manchester United amid the storm.
It follows several last minute timetable changes yesterday which resulted in Football Focus and Final Score being scrapped from the BBC One schedule.
MOTD, which Lineker has hosted for almost 25 years, was cut to just 20 minutes, with no commentary, analysis or interviews.
It also went out without its famous theme tune – instead broadcasting only short highlight clips of the day’s matches.
It did, however, see its viewing figures soar by 500,000 to 2.6million – the highest number since November 2022.
MOT2 will take a similar “reduced” format at 10:30pm after host Mark Chapman decided not to present for BBC Radio 5 Live Sport on Saturday and pundit Jermain Defoe announced he would not appear on the Sunday highlights programme.
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