Gary Lineker will return on Saturday evening as the presenter of BBC’s Match of the Day. The former England international was suspended by the British broadcaster last week. That decision resulted in an outpouring of criticism from the football world. The BBC has apologized for the incident.
Lineker returns to Match of the Day after BBC apology
Lineker sent out a tweet last week that compared the British government’s language on asylum policy to that of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. The BBC then decided that the former striker of Leicester City, Everton, Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur, among others, had violated the broadcaster’s house rules.
The decision to suspend Lineker for the time being did not go down well in the British football world: analysts such as Ian Wright and Alan Shearer and fellow presenters showed solidarity with Lineker. Match of the Day was still broadcast last Saturday, but without a presenter, analysts and commentary on the summaries.
Lineker announced Monday morning that he will return to the studio next Saturday. “After a few surreal days, I’m glad we got through this,” the presenter writes on Twitter. “I want to thank everyone for their tremendous solidarity and support, especially my coworkers at BBC Sport. Although football is a team sport, their support was tremendous.”
The BBC declares that it is reevaluating its policies for staff members’ use of social media.
“I have almost three decades of experience presenting sports on the BBC, and I’m incredibly proud to be associated with the best and most trustworthy media organisation in the world. I’m eager to return to my Match of the Day seat on Saturday,” Lineker remarked. The BBC has disclosed that it is reviewing its policies about how its staff members use social media.
The former striker, who has previously tweeted on the asylum policy, added, “A final thought: as terrible as the past few days have been, it cannot be compared to having to flee your home from persecution or war to take refuge in a land far away. It is encouraging to see how concerned so many of you are about their condition. We continue to be a nation predominately made up of tolerant, kind, and generous people.”
