Key Points
- Gary Lineker has been the centre of heated controversy with the BBC after his comments on social media.
- The drama forced the BBC to scrap the world's longest-running football program, Match of the Day on Saturday.
- There were calls for the resignation of the BBC managing director over the saga.
The BBC has been on the receiving end of international criticism following its decision to suspend broadcaster Gary Lineker from a long-running sports show.
The former England striker and host of the Match of the Day program made headlines around the world after he made comments criticising the .
Commentators have drawn parallels between for asylum seekers who arrive by boat, which also had the same tagline of '.
What happened?
In a tweet, Lineker, a 62-year-old former England striker, compared the language used to launch the UK's policy to that of Nazi-era Germany.
He also retweeted a video of the UK's home secretary Suella Braverman, pitching the 'stop the boats' policy on social media, which he described as "beyond awful".
In a statement on Friday, the BBC said Lineker's comments were a "breach of our guidelines", and that he would step back from presenting Match of the Day.
Match of the Day is known as the longest-running football program in the world, having aired since 1964. Lineker has been hosting the show since 1999.
The move prompted several pundits, including Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, to withdraw from the program in support of the ex-Barcelona and Tottenham star. Other regular contributors also vocalised their discomfort with stepping onto the show without Lineker's presence.
The show, which usually runs for an hour and a half, was scrapped and was instead replaced by a 20-minute highlight reel of the week's matches.
A Manchester City fan holds up a sign in support of Gary Lineker amid escalating controversy with the BBC. Source: AAP / PA / Zac Goodwin
Why is there outrage?
People behind Linekar are defending his right to exercise his freedom of speech.
Others argue he's been on the receiving end of adverse treatment and that it wouldn't have happened if he were criticising Labour policy, or supporting conservative policy.
Sky News commentator Kaveh Solhekol accused the BBC of hypocrisy, accusing several other BBC figures of donating to, or having links to the conservative side of politics, including Director General Tim Davie, who was once a conservative council candidate.
"So why is all this allowed?" Solhekol said in an on-air Sky segment.
"Yet Gary Lineker is not allowed to make a fairly innocuous comment, which many, many people would agree with, about a policy that has been condemned by the United Nations and also by many human rights groups.
BBC also has faced criticism for not broadcasting the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2022, in what some viewed to be a moral statement about Qatar's alleged human rights violations.
"This is the same Gary Lineker who's been allowed on the BBC to criticise the human rights record of Qatar. Why is he not allowed to criticise the human rights record of the country he lives?" Solhekol continued.
Former Socceroo and human rights advocate Craig Foster has also backed Lineker on Twitter.
"There is no ‘impartiality’ on human rights abuse and the language that legitimises it," Foster wrote.
"The problem is not that [Gary Lineker] challenged the demonisation of asylum seekers and the normalisation of the language of dehumanisation that has always preceded and legitimised hate and exclusion, but that too few have."
How is the BBC defending itself?
Mr Davie has since doubled-down on heated demands from the public to resign as director general of BBC.
"We are, in the BBC and myself, absolutely driven by a passion of impartiality. Not left, right or pandering," he said in an interview with the BBC's Nomia Iqbal.
BBC's Nomia Iqbal pressed Director General Tim Davie on his decision to suspend Gary Lineker from the Match of the Day program. Source: Twitter / Nomia Iqbal
"I'm not going to go through all the hypotheticals of the past," he said.
He apologised to viewers who were denied the program on Saturday night.
“As a keen sports fan I know to miss programming is a real blow and I’m sorry about that. We are working very hard to resolve this situation and make sure we get output on air."
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak released a statement saying the controversy should be resolved between the BBC and Lineker.
"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," he said.
Lineker will be back next Saturday to present the program.
With AFP
